Naruto: A New Path
by keybledar43
Summary: Plagued by a nightmare caused by the Kyuubi, Naruto sets out to learn the real reason for being Hokage. Look out ninja world, a new Naruto Uzumaki has arrived! Strictly NaruIno. Other secret pairings. No Harem. Rated M for Violence.
1. The Nightmare

**This is my new story and the first Naruto story I have ever done. The story will take place two days before Naruto meets Jiraiya and will follow the canon storyline up until this plot. This will be strictly Naruino since I enjoy this pairing, so please don't ask for another main couple. I am open to ideas concerning other couples and would like it if you voiced your opinion on this matter. Now onto the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 1 The Nightmare**

_Darkness was all he saw. It was a consuming darkness without the faintest hint of light. He tried to make sense of where he was but couldn't place it. Even time seemed to be consumed by the endless darkness. He tried to move his hands but found them useless, he tried to walk but found that there was no floor beneath him. A small flash of red illuminated the darkness. He turned to the light and tried to get closer to it, no sense in staying in the darkness he thought. He found himself floating towards the light and as he got closer he started making out other colors. First he found that the light was in fact a circle, secondly he found that the red orb had a black slit on the center. _

"_**Naruto,"**__ A voice growled. Suddenly light filled the darkness and the figure of a giant fox filled his sight. Naruto tried to run away but found that he couldn't move. Many thoughts raced through his head but a single one made itself more apparent, 'Why was the fox out of its cage?'_

"_Naruto," a new voice whimpered. The blond turned to the source of the voice and was met with a pink-haired girl's bloody figure. She was cut in half, her once silky pink hair was now painted crimson with blood and her piercing green eyes were now dull and lifeless. _

"_Sakura!" Naruto yelled in despair. He tried to go and aid the girl but before he could try to move the fox's giant paw crashed into the girl._

"_**Do you see how useless you are now? Can you finally feel the weakness that you think is strength?"**__ the fox said in amusement__**. "Now I will show you true despair!"**_

_The surroundings changed to that of a grassy plain stained with blood. Corpses could be seen everywhere. One of a black-haired teen with a bloody blue shirt, a masked man with silver hair, an old man with deep red robes that had been once white and finally one of his first friend and teacher, Iruka. Naruto lost all air at that moment and he couldn't help but gag at what he was seeing, tears flowed freely from his eyes and for the first time in years he sobbed._

"_**Pitiful human, you have seen nothing yet," **__the fox growled before appearing in the field and engulfing everything with fire._

Naruto woke up with a start. Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks as he tried to make sense of what exactly was going on. He ran a hand through his hair and found that he was covered in sweat. He looked around and found himself on his room laying safely on his bed. He glanced at a lone picture on his nightstand and sighed in relief. It was a picture of Team 7, where he formed his first bonds and gained a new respect for himself.

When Naruto had been a kid nobody would talk or acknowledge him. He had thought that it was because he had been initially sort of shy to talking to other kids but when he dropped his shyness he found that he still couldn't make friends. It was at this point that he started to think that there was something wrong with him. If nobody wanted to be his friend then it was because he was a freak amongst everyone. The Third Hokage, his grandfather figure, had told him that he was just as normal as everyone else and that people ignored him because of their own ignorance. When his jinchuuriki status got out, Naruto had really thought of himself as a demon and nothing else. It wasn't until Iruka declared otherwise, that Naruto thought of himself as his own person. After this he had been made a ninja of the leaf and put into Team 7.

Naruto smiled at how things had changed. He now had irreplaceable friends and had actually gotten into the final rounds of the chuunin exams. Of course there had been trouble but he and his team had managed to cope. His whole team had passed but Sakura had been disqualified for having tied with Ino, a girl Naruto didn't really know much about except for her huge crush on Sasuke. Thinking back on the chuunin exams, Naruto couldn't help but think of Orochimaru. The man had completely trashed them without breaking a sweat and had marked Sasuke with the curse seal that messed with the teens behavior. He had been unable to protect his friend much like the time when Haku, a boy he meet on his first mission, had 'killed' Sasuke. Both times Naruto had relied on the Kyuubi's help to protect his friends.

Naruto shuddered at the thought of Kyuubi. Thinking of the nine-tailed fox had brought back the nightmare he had just woken up from. It had all been so real and he had been too weak to do anything. It had just been a dream but it did have a lot of truth in it. Naruto hadn't been able to help his friends with his own powers and had been forced to use the Kyuubi to protect them, a creature who would want nothing more than to burn them all to ashes. Naruto felt truly weak for the first time since he had been made genin. In order to protect his friends Naruto had to train hard and get stronger.

"Yes." Naruto whispered, "I will not let anybody hurt my friends ever again."

Naruto got out of bed and picked up his scattered clothes. First he picked up his orange pants and black shirt. He quickly put them on and walked over to his discarded jacket next. As he put on the jacket he thought of cleaning the apartment. It had just been one month and a half since he cleaned it but he felt that it was better to clean it now before it got dirty. He walked towards the door of his apartment, while avoiding stepping on any of the pieces of trash that were on the floor, and put on his ninja sandals. A quick jog around town would certainly clear his head from the dream.

When he got out of his apartment he noted that it was still dark out. With a shrug he jumped out of the building and raced to the one place that would help him calm down, the Hokage Monument. Ever since the Third had taken him there Naruto had made it his special spot. Something about sitting on the head of his idol, the Fourth Hokage, seemed to calm him down. He remembered that it had been there that he decided to be Hokage. At that time he had only thought of being acknowledged but now that he thought about it, he really didn't know what being Hokage was about.

He knew that it would be a long time until he knew the real reason behind being Hokage. A Hokage was responsible for protecting everybody in the village but what made them want to protect them? What was that which drove them to put their lives before the village? Naruto promised himself to answer this questions but for now he knew one thing. That nightmare with the Kyuubi had opened his eyes. Right now he was weak but with enough training he would be strong enough to protect all of his precious people. Maybe this was the path into learning the answer for the reason for being Hokage but for now he would only focus on getting stronger in order to protect his friends.

"Do you hear that?" Naruto yelled at the village. The sun rose and shined on the whiskered blond, showing the determination on his blue eyes. "I won't let anyone hurt my friends. No more games, from now on I won't let anybody down!"

**Ch. 1 End**

**I know that the chapter was short but please take into account that this is the introductory chapter. This was the best spot to end the chapter and even I think that it's a little too short. Don't worry though as others chapters will be around four to five thousand words each. I know that the beginning is a little slow but this chapter was supposed to show just what goes on in Naruto's head. The story will pick up after this so please tell me what you think.**


	2. How to Improve

**Here's a quick update. I'm glad to see that so many of you liked the first chapter. Thanks to all of those who put this story on their alerts and favorites and thanks for reviewing. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 2 How to Improve**

Naruto was walking towards the ninja academy. It was now around eleven in the morning so it would be recess at the academy meaning that he could talk to Iruka. Earlier today Naruto had had an epiphany of sorts and sought to make himself stronger but he had no idea how. All that Naruto had done before was beg for a new jutsu and now that he thought about it, it really wasn't a way to get stronger. Sure you had a powerful jutsu but if he didn't have the proper training then the jutsu wouldn't be at its fullest strength and it would take time to hit a skilled opponent. Naruto decided that in order to improve he would go to the root of things, in this case the academy. Iruka had known Naruto almost as long as the Third and had a good idea of what Naruto's shortcomings were.

The blonde entered the academy and headed for Iruka's classroom. It was a little nostalgic to walk in the hallways of the academy and he couldn't help but smile at the memories. Sure they weren't the happiest of memories since he had been an outcast and had been alienated by everyone but there were still some happy memories. Like the times he would play pranks with Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba. Those had been simpler times where he would only worry of what flavor of ramen he would get if Iruka took him out to eat. Now he had to worry about missions, getting stronger and most of all protecting those precious to him.

"Hey Iruka sensei," Naruto said with a smile.

"Naruto?" Iruka exclaimed with a smile, "Long time no see. What are you doing here?"

"Well…" Naruto trailed off and turned his gaze towards the opened window that had a clear view of the academy students playing ninja. Iruka gave Naruto a concerned expression. It wasn't normal for Naruto to be serious. Naruto's fists tightened before he looked up at Iruka again, this time with determination burning on his eyes.

"I want to get stronger." Naruto said in complete seriousness, "I want to be able to protect those close to me and in order to do it I have to get much stronger."

"Naruto." Iruka whispered with a small smile. He was proud that his former student had found a drive to get stronger. Many ninjas had different drives, some had revenge, need to be recognized and some did it for honor.

"So I wanted to ask you about what you think I should improve on." Naruto looked at Iruka with nothing but seriousness written on his face, "I know that you haven't been my sensei for a long time but I want to know what my weaknesses were when I was here."

Iruka smiled proudly at his student, leave it to Naruto to surprise him like this. "Well Naruto back when you were here you had little to no talent in genjutsu. Your ninjutsu was…" Iruka thought back to the Sexy Jutsu and cleared his throat, "Your ninjutsu showed great promise while your taijutsu showed little. I know that you have improved in both of those, your match with Kiba proved it, but I see that you still have some problems with genjutsu."

Naruto ran a hand thorough his hair, a habit he had when he thought of something to be difficult. "So you're saying that all my skills need work?"

Iruka shook his head. "Not at all Naruto, what I'm saying is that your genjutsu was the one that needed the most work." He said. "I suggest that you go ask Kakashi what he thinks also since he's the most familiar with your current skills."

"I got it." Naruto smiled at Iruka and walked to the door. "I'll go look for Kakashi-sensei now, thanks for everything!" With that Naruto ran out of the room with a smile.

Iruka chuckled. "That Naruto… he never ceases to surprise me."

* * *

Naruto was currently on Team 7's training grounds. He had been looking for Kakashi in several places but hadn't found him. He had first tried the bookstore that Kakashi visited frequently. Next he tried the memorial stone but he hadn't been there either. With no more options Naruto decided to look on the training grounds.

"Yo," a voice said behind him.

Naruto almost jumped out of his skin and glared at Kakashi. "What the hell was that? You can't just go and appear behind someone like that!"

Kakashi eye-smiled at Naruto. "I see that you were looking for me."

Naruto gave the jonin a puzzled look. "How did you know?"

"Easy, I've been following you." Kakashi said. "When I was going to the bookstore I saw you approach it. At first I thought that I would finally meet another person who enjoyed the perfection that is the Make-Out series but I saw you leave and go to the memorial stone it was at this point that I knew you were looking for me."

Naruto smiled at his sensei. "Well I do have a favor to ask."

"What is it?" The jonin asked.

Naruto's face turned serious and he looked at Kakashi in the eye. "I want you to tell me what my strength and weaknesses are and to tell me what to improve on."

Kakashi raised a visible brow at this. It wasn't typical Naruto behavior to ask for an evaluation. Just yesterday he had been shouting that he would pass the chuunin exams without breaking a sweat. "What brought this change, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed and clenched his fists, he really didn't want to remember the nightmare. "I just felt as if I wasn't strong enough to protect my friends." Naruto turned his gaze towards the small lake on the side of the training grounds, "I want to get stronger in order to protect them."

Kakashi gazed proudly at his student, if only his sensei could see him. "Well Naruto from what I see you have a lot to improve on but not by a lot. First you have to expand your jutsu list so far you only know the shadow clone. I'll give you some scrolls with jutsu depending on your elemental affinity, but we'll get to that later. You also have to work on a way to dispel genjutsu since you have no talent in it."

"Your taijutsu is neither bad or good so I suggest picking out a style and working on it." Kakashi took out a small paper from his pocket and handed it to Naruto, "Now I want you to pour some chakra into the paper, this will tells us your elemental affinity."

Naruto did as instructed and watched as the paper split in half. "What does that mean sensei?"

Kakashi nodded before taking out a few scrolls. "It means that you have a wind affinity. This is probably the most dangerous element since it's not only powerful but also really hard to control." Kakashi gave the scrolls to Naruto, "Those contain some of the wind jutsu that I have copied over the years but you cannot attempt to use them until you have trained with wind chakra."

Naruto nodded at Kakashi. "Don't worry Kakashi-sensei I give you my word that I won't do that." Naruto gave a confused look and ran a hand through his hair, "But how will I train with wind chakra?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at his student. "Well Naruto in order to be able to use wind jutsu safely you need to complete two exercises. First you have to split a leaf in half using your chakra." Kakashi picked up a leaf and split it in half, "The cut has to be clean, if it isn't a perfect split then you have to try again until you get one. The second exercise is much like the first only this time you have to cut a rock in half. This will require more chakra meaning than the leaf exercise but I'm sure you'll pull through."

Naruto smiled in excitement. "Thanks Kakashi sensei I'll do my best." He pocketed the scrolls and turned to leave. "See you later sensei."

"Naruto wait," Kakashi instructed.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"I want you to meet me here tomorrow at ten in the morning, we'll discuss your training for the chuunin exams." Kakashi said, "I don't want you to be late."

Naruto sweat dropped. "This coming from you sensei." Naruto deadpanned, "Fine I won't be late." With that Naruto left the training grounds, set on splitting the leaf that same day.

* * *

Naruto sat against a tree with a leaf on hand. He had been trying the leaf exercise but couldn't make the smallest of cuts. It had been four hours since his talk with Kakashi and Naruto now knew why Kakashi had said that wind was the hardest element to control. Naruto was always the impatient one and so he couldn't stay still for a long time. It was one of the other things Naruto would need to work on since he would probably have to do stealth type missions in the future. Naruto gave a foxy grin thinking about all of the missions he could take when he got stronger. Sure he wanted to be able to protect his friends but that didn't mean that he would dedicate his whole life to it.

Once again Naruto poured chakra into the leaf. For some reason his chakra control had gotten a lot worse and he wasn't able to focus it. He tried to think of sharp things as he tried to mold his chakra. He finally pictured a sword and tried to imitate it with wind chakra. When he finally got tired, Naruto looked at the leaf and fall a small nick on the bottom. It wasn't much but it was something, at least it showed that he was on the right track.

Naruto grinned. "Only a few adjustments on the chakra and I'll be able to cut the leaf in no time!" Naruto, again, poured chakra into the leaf before trying to make it take the shape of a sword but it was too hard to focus his chakra, "Damn, I need to work on my chakra control again. I guess I got a little rusty somehow."

Naruto noticed that it was getting late. If he had to guess he would say that it was at least six in the afternoon. He heard his stomach growl and decided that it was time to eat, maybe a visit to Ichiraku's would get his chakra control back to normal. Naruto sighed happily and got up. He stretched a little before going back to the village. He had gone to a small clearing near Team 7's training grounds and found it to be a good place for his training. He could have gone to train at the actual training grounds but there were always people going there and that would surely disrupt his training.

Naruto dismissed those thoughts. He was now in town, thanks to him jumping through the roofs of the village, and he could smell ramen in the air. The very meal that had been made by gods and brought to the humble hands of humans. He took in the smell and closed his eyes, letting his nose guide him to his next meal. He suddenly bumped into something soft and fell on his butt.

"Watch where you're going!" He heard a feminine voice snap, "Naruto?"

Naruto opened his eyes and was met with platinum blond hair and blue eyes. "Ino?" Naruto got up and dusted his pants, "What are you doing here?"

Ino's eye twitched. "Aren't you supposed to help me get up?" Ino was still where she had fallen and pointed at herself.

"Why would I do that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Ino sighed. "Just help me up, will you?" Ino held her hand up and Naruto took it on his. The contact of their bare hands touching made them both blush lightly, "T-thanks."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Sure no problem." He noticed that Ino was on her civilian clothes, meaning that she was probably on a break from her ninja duties, "So, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm out looking for something to eat." Ino explained, "Since my parents are away I don't have anything to eat at home."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Hey, how about going to eat with me?" Naruto smiled at Ino and took out his frog wallet, "I'm on my way there since I'm pretty hungry since I've been training all day."

Ino looked slightly shocked. "You want to go with me?" Ino had a light blush on her face at the thought of being asked out to eat by a boy. It was true that she acted like a flirt around Sasuke but deep down she was a shy girl, not Hinata level but still shy, "A-are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, let's go!" With that Naruto took Ino's hand and ran to Ichiraku's, just smelling their ramen from far away had his mouth watering. He was completely unaware of Ino's light blush of course.

The two entered the stand and sat down. Soon a man wearing an apron came out. The man had a face that talked of joy and peace, it gave the stand a homey feeling. The man's name was Teuchi and he was one of the people who didn't hold any resentment for Naruto because of the fox sealed inside of him. He and his daughter, Ayame had been some of the first people that were precious to Naruto.

"Hey there Naruto, who's your friend?" Teuchi asked with a smile.

Naruto grinned and pointed to the fellow blonde. "This is Ino, she was looking for a place to eat so I took her here." Naruto explained, "Where's Ayame?"

Teuchi grinned and crossed his arms across his chest. "She went out to buy some ingredients for a new flavor of ramen I'm creating." The man knew what this would do to the boy and the reaction was always funny. Naruto's eyes widened and his body stiffened. Ino looked at him oddly and noticed that he was shaking slightly.

"A new ramen flavor!" Naruto exclaimed with glee, "Are you looking for someone to give you their opinion?"

Teuchi chuckled and shook his head. "Thanks for volunteering Naruto." Teuchi said, "As always the first two bowls will be on the house."

"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed in happiness. It might have looked like a bad move on Teuchi's part but considering what Naruto consumed it wasn't so bad.

Ino looked at Naruto oddly. She hadn't seen this side of Naruto ever since she met him. He was still loud but he looked calmer and happier than all the other times she had seen him. When she thought about it, she never got to know the blonde. When they were in the academy she wasn't interested in getting to know him. Unlike the other kids, who treated Naruto like the plague, she treated him like she treated everyone else. It wasn't until Naruto beat Kiba, taking everyone by surprise, that she was interested in learning more of the blond.

"What will you two have?" Teuchi asked with a smile.

"I'll have miso ramen and keep them coming." Naruto smiled and turned to Ino, "What are you going to get?"

Ino took a menu from the table and skimmed through it. "I'll have one bowl of chicken ramen." Ino put the menu back down and saw that Naruto was looking at her funny, "What's wrong?"

Naruto eyed Ino oddly and looked her up and down. "Why are you getting only one bowl? You should get more than one." Naruto said, "The ramen here tastes so good that you have to have more than one."  
Ino frowned. "I'm not like you. I have to keep my figure and I can't go eating as many ramen bowls as I want." She crossed her arms and turned away from Naruto.

"Why'd you get mad?" Naruto asked with an odd look, "It's not like you'll gain weight. We're ninja we're always exercising. Why are you watching what you eat?"

Ino sighed. "You just don't understand woman Naruto." Teuchi arrived with the bowls and set them in front of the two teens, "Unlike you, I control what I eat."

* * *

Naruto and Ino walked on the streets of Konoha. They were on their way to Ino's house since she said it was what a gentleman was supposed to do. Naruto didn't really understand this but simply did as Ino instructed. The sun was setting and there were a few people walking on the streets. Ino noticed the looks they gave to Naruto but saw that he was blissfully unaware of them. They were the same looks parents would give Naruto when they went to pick up their kids. It was a look of fear mixed with resentment. She was pulled out of her thoughts when a hand was waved in front of her.

"Inooo, hey Ino are you okay?" Naruto continued to wave his hand until Ino pushed it away, "So you are alive after all."

Ino blushed in embarrassment. "What do you want?" Ino snapped with a tick mark.

Naruto pointed at the houses on the street. "Where's your house? You said that it was on this block but you didn't say which one it was." He explained.

Ino sighed. "I don't know Naruto, maybe it's the house that has a sign with my last name." Ino pointed at a house with a sign that read 'Yamanaka Flower Shop.'

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms, "That's a lot of talk from someone who had four bowls of ramen."

The air got cold and Ino glared at Naruto. "What was that?" She hissed with a tightened fist.

Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. The two walked to the house and went in. Naruto looked at all the different flowers displayed on the shop. He had always been a little interested in gardening, he had a few plants on his apartment to prove it. He was first interested on them when he learned that some plants had different uses. Plants grew around Konoha so it was no trouble for Naruto to pick wild ones and put them in a base, the flowers being an awesome color orange was just icing on the cake.

Ino looked at Naruto in confusion. "What are you doing?" She had seen Naruto staring at the flowers and was wondering what he was up to, "Are you interested in flowers?"

Naruto smiled and shook his head. "I own some plants but I'm only a little interested in them." He explained. Ino looked at Naruto in wonder. The teen was full of surprises, she would have never thought that energetic Naruto would have the time to do something as calming as tend to flowers.

"Well thanks for agreeing to go with me." Naruto said, "You're actually the first person that has agreed to go with me other than Iruka-sensei."

Ino smiled at the blonde. "It was actually kind of fun, getting to know you I mean." She found herself blushing lightly and scolded herself for being so shy deep down.

Naruto returned the smile and walked over to Ino. "I thought so too. We should go out again sometime." Naruto asked with a glint of hope on his eyes, "If you don't want to I'll understand."

"N-no it'll be fine." Ino responded, "I'd like that. You're a really interesting person and I'd like to get to know you better."

Naruto gave his foxy grin and put something on Ino's hand. "I have to go. I'll see you later Ino!" With that Naruto ran out of the store.

Ino watched Naruto's retreating figure and smiled. He was certainly an interesting person who she wouldn't mind getting to know better. She felt like she could be her own self when she was with him and knew that they would become good friends, the white rose on her hand was proof enough of that.

* * *

The next day Naruto was up by eight in the morning. He took a shower, got dressed ate a light breakfast, since he had a little money left from the Zabuza mission. Naruto had put most of his money on what he called his 'I'm out of ramen' money. He didn't care much about material possessions and so it was rare of him to use money buying material things. He would only use the money for food and bills.

After finishing his morning routine Naruto had gone to the training grounds. It was eight thirty in the morning but he figured that he could use that time to work on cutting the leaf. He was glad with his progress so far. Now that he had the basic concept of the exercise down everything else would soon follow. The only thing that made it harder to cut the leaf was his terrible chakra control. He guessed that it had gone down due to natural causes but would ask Kakashi about it later since he still had other things to worry about. For one he didn't know where he would get a new taijutsu style. He couldn't ask just anyone since most were already training their own students. It was at times like this that Naruto wished Kakashi had Gai's enthusiasm. Naruto pictured Kakashi wearing a green jumpsuit and striking a 'nice guy' pose for just one second and instantly knew that Kakashi was okay the way he was.

When Naruto got to the training ground he began to work on the leaf. He wished there was a way to make the training go faster but knew that he was also training on controlling his emotions. He had read about meditating once before during his academy days. Meditation was a way for a ninja to get to know their own bodies chakra wise. Naruto thought about doing this some other time since he didn't have the time to meditate at the moment, Kakashi would arrive soon.

"Good to see you're already here Naruto," came the voice of Kakashi. It had been two hours since Naruto had arrived but he didn't complain. In fact, Naruto was glad that Kakashi had been a little late since it had given him time to work on the leaf. So far he had made miniscule progress but it was progress after all.

Naruto noticed that the closet pervert was with Kakashi. What was his name? Ebusa?"

"This is Ebisu one of the best jounin in Konoha." Kakashi explained, "I'll be training Sasuke and will be very busy with it. Ebisu will teach you a kind of chakra control. It's called 'water walking' it's similar to tree walking only this time you have to use your chakra to stand on something that is not solid."

Naruto frowned. He knew that Ebisu was one of the people who thought of him as a pest. "I got it Kakashi-sensei." He would keep quiet for now. If the man had agreed to train him who was he to object.

Kakashi eye-smiled before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving Naruto and Ebisu alone. It was a good thing that the man wore glasses since Naruto hated the look he was surely giving him.

"Let us go now Naruto, I'll show you to our place of training." With that the man leapt away with Naruto trailing behind him. Naruto noticed that the man was going a little too fast but didn't voice his opinion. Complaining didn't get him anywhere on the past and wouldn't get him anywhere now.

They arrived to a local hot springs. For some reason the place always had costumers though the climate at the Konoha was mild. They would close whenever it got too cold but it almost never happened, they lived a few hours away from a desert for crying out loud. This is why Naruto was eying Ebisu in confusion. He had no idea why they would train in a hot springs and was beginning to think that the man wouldn't train him.

Ebisu cleared his throat. "Okay Naruto do you see that hot spring there?" The man pointed to a lone hot spring before proceeding, "You will train on your water walking there."

Naruto walked to the hot spring and looked confused, "What's so special about this hot spring?"

Ebisu chuckled, "Let's just say that it will motivate you to do your best."

Naruto shrugged and stood on the edge of the hot spring. He gathered chakra on his feet and stepped on the water. His feet sunk a little but it was okay otherwise. It wasn't until he put his other foot on the spring that he sunk. The moment his skin touched the water Naruto jumped out with a yell and glared at Ebisu.

"What the hell was that? That thing is boiling!" Naruto exclaimed with a frown.

"It is necessary for your training Naruto. Now get to it again!" Ebisu exclaimed in a commanding tone. Naruto scowled and continued to try to do the exercise.

After three more failed tries Naruto ran a hand through his hair and growled. This exercise was really annoying and the boiling water didn't make it any better. He suddenly heard the sound of giggling and turned towards the sound. The giggling came from an old man peeking through a small hole at the woman's hot springs. Naruto frowned; here he was training to the bone while some old man was spying on woman. He saw that Ebisu, ever the gentleman, was stomping towards the man with a frown.

"Excuse me sir but what are you doing?" Ebisu asked with a frown.

The man turned away from the small hole he had made on the wall and frowned at Ebisu. "I'm doing my research now be a sport and leave." The man turned to the whole again and began to write furiously on a small notepad he had taken out of his coat.

Ebisu tried to move the man away but the man proved to be too quick and sidestepped. Before anybody knew what happened the man made a giant frog appear right on top of Ebisu. The poor man was knocked unconscious on the spot.

Naruto stared at the white-haired man in awe, "Who are you?"

The man turned to Naruto and smiled. He jumped on top of the toad, both of them ignoring the groan coming from Ebisu, and stroke a pose. "I am the great Jiraiya of the Sannin!"

**Ch. 2 End**

**This marks the end of the chapter and I hope that you liked it. Next update won't come until a couple of days. Naruto will begin his real training next chapter and (if you don't know already) Naruto's terrible chakra control will be explained.**


	3. The Great Jiraiya

**Here's the next chapter guys, hope you enjoy it. I would like to thank all of those who reviewed and added the story to their favorites and alerts. The story will maintain a balance of training time and interaction with other characters. Before this chapter begins, I would like to tell you that many events will change from now onwards so don't assume that I get some facts incorrectly. That is all. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Tale**

**Ch.3 The Great Jiraiya**

Naruto didn't know what to do. He had just met a legendary ninja that was said to rival the Hokage in terms of strength. Yet the man had been spying on woman when they were bathing and had knocked out his teacher for the chuunin exam finals. The little dance Jiraiya did when announcing his name hadn't made things any better and Naruto presumed that the man thought of himself as 'cool.'

"Why did you knock out my teacher?" Naruto asked with a frown.

Jiraiya smirked. "Like I told him. I was busy with my research and can't be bothered at the moment." The sannin smiled and held up his notebook, "This notebook holds the first notes for my new 'Make-Out Paradise.'"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He had heard the name of that book before, but where? A sudden image of a giggling Kakashi entered his thoughts. "You're the one who writes the book Kakashi-sensei reads, right?"

"So you know a fan?" Jiraiya asked with a smile, "I can't say I'm surprised since my books are known all throughout the nations!"

Naruto frowned. "You're nothing but a lowly pervert, aren't you?" The blond's frown turned into a grin, "I know how to deal with guys like you."

"As if you could do anything against me," Jiraiya boasted.

"Sexy Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke Naruto transformed into a naked and older female version of himself. Jiraiya's jaw hit the floor before fainting with a massive nosebleed.

Naruto grinned. "Serves the perv right." The teen walked over to Ebisu's fallen form before sighing, "I guess water walking is postponed for now. I might as well go work on the leaf so I can start with my new jutsus." With that Naruto left the hot springs in order to go train.

* * *

Naruto arrived at the clearing he had been using to train lately. The sun was high in the sky, meaning that it was around noon. The teen took a fallen leaf from the floor and sat against a tree. He had been thinking of trying to meditate while attempting to cut the leaf. If successful then it would kill two birds with one stone and he could go on to train in other things he needed to improve.

Naruto frowned. All he had done was try to cut the leaf but he still needed to train his taijutsu and find a way to counter genjutsu, not to mention that it would probably take him a while to learn the jutsu Kakashi had left him. The blond sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to improve a lot but had little time left for the chuunin exams, maybe he should ask someone else to help him train. He suspected that Ebisu wouldn't train him seriously because of the fox.

The blond shook his head in order to clear his head. Now was not the time to be thinking about how hard it would be to improve, now was the time to train. With a confident grin, Naruto tried to cut the leaf once again. No matter how long it would take him to get strong, he would never quit.

Jiraiya watched the blond with a grin. The kid could have been enjoying a day with his friends but instead chose to train. Contrary to popular belief, Jiraiya knew a good ninja when he saw one. Just by looking at the kid, he was reminded of his younger self. The kid would get far but he could get farther with the aid of a sannin, and Jiraiya was the one for the job.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his sweaty head. It had been a few hours since he started to attempt the leaf exercise once again and he was growing impatient. It was actually an improvement for Naruto to have stayed still so long but his short temper combined with the hot air hitting his skin were about to set off the teen. In his hands the leaf was still gripped tightly with only a very small improvement.

The blond finally growled and took his hands away from the leaf. He checked his work and saw that he had cut a visible amount of the leaf this time. He managed to smile a little at the small show of improvement, at least he was on the right track.

"Looks like you're having some problems with the leaf exercise," came the voice of Jiraiya.

Naruto turned towards the voice and saw Jiraiya walking towards him. "Oh great you found me." The blond sighed, "What do you want perv?"

Jiraiya smiled coyly. "Now that's no way to talk to someone who's willing to help you, is it?" The sannin smirked at Naruto's confused look, "Let's just say that I have a way to help you with your terrible chakra control."

Naruto frowned. "My chakra control is not terrible!" The blond crossed his arms, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I've been watching you try to cut the leaf for a while now, so don't try to lie to me." Jiraiya said with an amused grin, "So how about I help you?"

"How will you do that?" Naruto asked.

"Easy, I just need you to take off your shirt." Jiraiya explained. The sannin saw Naruto give him a shocked look and scowled, "Don't get any funny ideas kid. I only like beautiful women."

Naruto gave Jiraiya another look before taking off his jacket and shirt. He instantly felt some of the terrible heat leave his body and he wondered why he hadn't taken off his jacket before. The blond gave Jiraiya an odd look. The sannin was eyeing his stomach in deep seriousness. He couldn't know about the fox, could he?

Jiraiya smiled and moved away from Naruto's stomach. "Just as I thought. There's something wrong with the seal keeping the Kyuubi locked away." The sannin explained, "Don't worry kid, I know just what to do."

Before Naruto could ask what it was, he was struck on the stomach by Jiraiya. Naruto got the wind knocked out of him and cursed the sannin. He felt a burning sensation where the seal was but it soon left.

"What the hell was that!" Naruto exclaimed.

The sannin smirked. "Just try to cut the leaf again, and everything will be explained."

Naruto frowned but followed Jiraiya's orders. He put a leaf on his hands and started to pour and mold chakra. On his other training sessions, he found that molding the chakra into a kind of blade worked the best. The blond did just that and kept on focusing on his task.

"Let's see how you did?" Jiraiya commanded.

The teen took his hands away from the leaf and got a big smile on his face. No longer was there only a small part of the leaf sliced, now about one-fourth of the leaf had been cut. The blond couldn't believe that Jiraiya had actually known how to help him.

Naruto turned to the sannin with a smile. "Thanks a lot Pervy Sage!"

"What did you call me?" Jiraiya exclaimed.

The blond smirked. "I called you Pervy Sage, it kind of suits you."

Jiraiya crossed his arms and frowned. "Well, I guess that I won't take you as my apprentice after all." The sannin watched Naruto's shocked expression in amusement. He turned to leave and waited for Naruto to try to stop him, "I'll be on my way then."

Naruto tried to think of something to do and quickly got an idea. "Sexy Jutsu!" Jiraiya turned around at the mention of the jutsu and got a perverted grin on his face. "Pwease train me Jiraiya-sensei."

"Of course I'll train you!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

Naruto smirked and dropped the transformation. Jiraiya snapped out of his daze and frowned at the influence that jutsu had over him. Naruto, on the other hand, was smiling in joy and excitement at having a sannin train him. This way he would be able to protect his friends in no time.

Jiraiya sighed. "Okay kid you got me." He crossed his arms and faced Naruto with seriousness on his face, "Now let's talk about your training. What are you working on as of right now?"

Naruto put on a look of thought. "Well I've been working on my wind chakra control but I also need to work on my taijutsu and gain a way to counter genjutsu. But the wind chakra training has been taking up all of my time."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding, "How many jutsu do you know?"

Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "W-well I know how to do shadow clones but that's about it."

The sannin raised a brow at this. He had no idea that a kid could actually use shadow clones. Even though he was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki it was an amazing feat. It was actually a good thing that Naruto knew how to use shadow clones since it would give him more time to train the kid in different subjects.

"Do you know the true use of the shadow clones?" Jiraiya asked. At seeing Naruto's confused look he continued, "You see, shadow clones were made to for spying purposes. They are not only solid but they are able to transfer their experiences to the user. We are going to use them to train you in different subjects at the same time."

Naruto got an exited smiled on his face, "What will those things be Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya smiled. Seeing the blond kid call him Jiraiya-sensei he couldn't help but remember the good times he had with Minato. It was somehow a true coincidence that he ended up training them both but then again maybe it had been fate.

"Your training will be divided into three categories." Jiraiya explained, "First, I'll teach you some of the toad taijutsu that I know. After that you will finish that water walking I saw you practicing at the hot springs and finally I will teach you how to summon toads. The wind chakra control will be done on your free time."

"When will we start?" Naruto asked with an exited smile.

"The training will start tomorrow at eight in the morning. I will come get you and take you to a great spot for training. I expect that we'll be done by five in the afternoon so it'll give you some time to master your wind control." Jiraiya took out his notebook and grinned, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some research to do." With that the sannin disappeared and left a frowning Naruto alone.

The blond huffed and turned to go home, "At least I have someone to train me now. As long as I don't become a pervert then I'll be fine."

* * *

Jiraiya giggled as he wrote furiously on his notebook. He and Naruto had gone to a waterfall in order to train his water walking that much was true but what Jiraiya didn't tell him was that it was one of his favorite places to do his research. When they had started training early in the morning, Naruto had gotten down most of the toad style taijutsu. After the taijutsu portion of the training was over he had Naruto fight one of his clones while water walking. The brat had made good progress and it would only a matter of time before he was finished. Jiraiya had to admit that he was impressed at the level at which the kid learned. The sannin heard a loud cheer followed by a round of laughter and instantly knew that his student was done with water walking.

Naruto turned towards Jiraiya and grinned. "You better stop peeking on those girls Jiraiya-sensei. I beat the clone and that means that you have to teach me how to summon toads!"

Jiraiya sighed and dropped down from the tree. "Alright already!" Jiraiya exclaimed with a frown, "Sheesh kid, has anybody ever told you that you're too loud."

"A lot of people actually," Naruto confessed.

"As long as you know that." Jiraiya said with an annoyed expression as he took off the scroll he carried on his lower back. The sannin opened the large scroll and Naruto could see that there were two names written in blood, "I need you to sign this using your blood, it's the first step in using the summoning jutsu."

Naruto smiled in excitement. "No problem Pervy Sage!" The blond bit his thumb and drew blood. He began to write his name next to the one that read Minato Namikaze, "All done!"

Jiraiya couldn't help but sigh, maybe having a hyperactive blond as an apprentince wouldn't be that good after all. "Now you need to do the hand signs I taught you. Remember that the toad summon depends on the amount of chakra you put into it."

Naruto smiled and went through the hand signs. He slammed his hands into the ground and watched as a poof of smoke appeared. He smiled in excitement but groaned when he saw a small green toad had appeared.

"What did I do wrong?" Naruto whined with a frown.

"I told you to put more chakra into it." Jiraiya scolded, "Now do it one more time but put more chakra into it."

The blond frowned and did as instructed only to summon a slightly bigger purple toad. Naruto growled and went through the seals one more time only to summon the previous green toad.

Jiraiya frowned, _it looks like he'll have to use that chakra after all_. "That's enough kid." Jiraiya said, ignoring Naruto's complains, "We have to go over some things now."

The teen groaned but walked over to Jiraiya. "What are we going over now Jiraiya-sensei?"

The toad sannin chuckled. "We have to start a new training schedule. I didn't plan on you learning to water walk so quickly so we have to make some changes." Jiraiya explained, "We'll still work on your taijutsu first but it will grow on level as time goes on. Right after the taijutsu we'll be having sparring matches to help you learn how to use it in battle."

"After the sparring I'll help you with your wind chakra control." Jiraiya continued, "When the wind training is over I'll teach you the basics of sealing. The art of sealing is very useful to ninja and, if you have enough skill, you can create your own seals. When we're done with that you'll continue to try and summon bigger toads."

Naruto nodded. "I got it Jiraiya-sensei but will I still be able to train on my free time?"

Jiraiya grinned. "You're welcome to train whenever you want but I assure you that you won't have the energy to do so when I'm done with you." The sannin had a glint on his eye that made Naruto shiver involuntarily, "We're done for today, I'll see you tomorrow morning kid."

The sannin disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Naruto sighed in contempt and stretched his sore muscles. He couldn't wait to get started with his training but that glint on Jiraiya's eye had told him that he'll be in pain in the future. The blond chuckled and summoned two clones, like Jiraiya had instructed, and began to work on cutting the leaf.

* * *

The sun was setting when Naruto was making his way home. For the first time in years, Naruto was tired. It had been a long day and he knew that it would be nothing compared to what was to come. He walked through the streets and played his oblivious act. He had learned how to pretend that he didn't notice the stares the villagers threw at him but he could still feel the gazes on him. How he hoped that the stares would stop.

"Naruto!" He heard a voice scream. The blond turned around and was met with the sight of Ino running towards him.

"What's wrong Ino?" Naruto asked as Ino tried to catch her breath.

Ino frowned and pointed at Naruto's clothes. "Look at you Naruto. You're a mess!" Naruto took a look at his clothes and noticed that his clothes were in fact cut up in some places and filled with dirt, "What happened to you?"

Naruto grinned lightly. "I was training with Jiraiya-sensei." The blond answered, "I think I was cut up when he tried to teach me how to block a kunai with my new taijutsu."

Ino sighed. "Naruto you have blood in your jacket." Ino said in concern, "You're coming with me."

"Going where?" Naruto asked in slight concern.

Ino took hold of Naruto's sleeve and dragged him with her. "I'm going to take you home and clean your wounds."

Naruto stiffened. "A-are you sure your parents will be okay with me being there?" He asked in alarm, "I don't want to bother them."

The girl chuckled. "Are you kidding?" She asked with a smile, "They've wanted to meet you for a while."

The blond's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" He asked incredulously, "Why would they want to meet me?"

Ino sighed. "Naruto you're a great guy." She said with a small smile, "You beat Kiba by not giving up and took everyone by surprise. Ever since you became a ninja, my parents have wanted to meet you."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Okay let's go." He managed to say. He didn't understand why they would want to meet him but if Ino really wanted him to go then he would, they were friends after all.

The blond watched the streets around him in wonder. He didn't go to this part of town frequently since almost everyone hated him on these parts, the time he had walked Ino home this certain fact had slipped his mind. Again, he found himself being the target of many glares. He noticed that Ino had seen the stares and wished that she didn't mention them. He would continue to play his oblivious act and hope that she wouldn't mention them. The blond saw the Yamanaka sign only a few houses away and smiled in relief.

Ino smiled, as if proud of the sign that hung on her home. "We're here." She declared before taking Naruto's sleeve and dragging him in through the front door. "Mom I'm home!"

Naruto's heartbeat increased when he heard approaching footsteps. He was always afraid of meeting with adults since most of them blamed him for the Kyuubi, he only hoped that this wouldn't be the case.

"Welcome home Ino," A blonde woman said as she entered the living room. The woman turned her gaze to Naruto who stiffened at her gaze. "Who's your friend Ino?"

Ino smiled. "This is Naruto." She pointed at the woman and turned to Naruto, "This is my mom, Miki."

Miki smiled at the boy. She saw how nervous he was about meeting her and it didn't surprise her. She was sad to see what the village had done to the boy. He was completely nervous about meeting a single person. Miki had always been amazed at the strength the boy showed, she had seen him walk through the village with a heartbreaking look on his face but the boy was now a ninja of the leaf.

"Nice to meet you Naruto." Miki said in a soft tone, "Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'll be okay ma'am," Naruto said quietly.

Ino gave Naruto an odd look. "What's wrong Naruto? Why are you so quiet?" She whispered to him, "It's not like she'll eat you alive or anything." Naruto kept his gaze to the ground and only grunted in response. Ino threw her mom an apologetic look and dragged Naruto upstairs.

Miki glanced sadly at Naruto's disappearing figure. She hadn't known that the boy was so afraid of adults. She remembered meeting him once before when he was about seven, if she had to guess. The boy had been pushed out of a store by the owner for no apparent reason and she had tried to help him up. The boy had looked at her with complete fear before running away from the spot. It was sad to see what the ignorance of the villagers had done to the boy.

Meanwhile Ino sat Naruto on a chair in her room. Her room was painted in a very light color purple. Her bed had dark purple blankets with light purple pillows. The room suited Ino very well and went with her personality really well. Speaking of Ino, she had gone to get her first aid kit.

Ino entered the room with a frown. "Why did you ignore my mom like that?"

Naruto lowered his gaze and sighed. "I really didn't mean to Ino." He said with a sad expression, "I'm just not good with adults."

Ino's face softened and she sighed. "I'll let you off the hook this once." She said with a small smile. "But if you ever ignore my mom okay you'll pay the consequences."

Naruto gulped and laughed nervously. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"Good," she said before checking Naruto for any wounds.

* * *

Naruto and Ino walked out of her house. Naruto had been wary of bumping into Ino's mom but thankfully didn't see her on the way. He hated being afraid of meeting adult strangers. He didn't have this fear towards other ninja since most of them had treated him fairly unlike the villagers who all treated him with resentment.

Ino looked at her friend sadly. The blond had a look of exhaustion on his face that seemed alien on his face. "Why do you train so hard?" She asked, "I know you want to be a chuunin but isn't this a bit too much."

Naruto gave a small smile and shook his head. "I'm not training to be promoted." He began, "I'm training so I can protect my precious people. I've been unable to help my friends with my own power and want to change that. I don't want to watch as my friends get hurt and rely on something that isn't my own power, I want to be someone they can always rely on."

Ino looked at Naruto in a whole new light. She hadn't expected an answer like that and gained a new respect for the fellow blond. His dream of being Hokage didn't look like a ridiculous idea anymore, she actually believed that with more experience he could actually become Hokage one day.

"I have to go Ino, I'm really tired," Naruto said with a weary smile.

Ino smiled. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Naruto gave a foxy grin. "Of course, maybe we could train together one day."

Ino nodded in agreement. "I'll get stronger too." Naruto looked at Ino in confusion, "You were right about what you said. I feel like a burden on my team sometimes and I want to change that. I'll follow your example and get stronger."

Naruto smiled. "You'll get stronger for sure Ino." He said with a grin, "We should train together sometime."

Ino grinned. "Just you wait Naruto, I'll be a lot stronger next time we meet."

"Don't think that I'll just let that happen." Naruto smiled, "I'll get stronger so we can both protect our precious ones."

Ino gave Naruto a sweet smile. "Now go get some rest or you won't be able to train tomorrow." Naruto chuckled in response and left the store with a single wave. "I knew he would be a good friend."

* * *

Inoichi stretched as soon as he entered his home. It was past midnight and he had had an annoying mission. He was supposed to travel to a nearby village and stop a small gang of thugs who apparently had some information on Orochimaru. It turned out that the thugs had said that they knew Orochimaru in order to gain recognition.

He smiled as he made his way to his room. It was always nice to come home to a loving family after a long mission. When he entered his room he was surprised to see Miki awake. She usually fell asleep right after Ino so it was strange of her to stay up this late.

"Is anything wrong Miki?" Inoichi asked as he took off his ninja sandals.

Miki smiled and shook her head. "I just haven't been able to sleep." She admitted, "You know, Ino brought a boy home today."

Inoichi instantly perched up at the mention of her daughter and a boy. "Who was it?"

"It was Naruto," Miki said.

Inoichi raised a brow at this. "I thought that she didn't know him that well?"

Miki smiled. "Apparently she does." She said with a yawn, "He's a good influence on her. She was talking about taking her training seriously when he left."

Inoichi looked taken back before smiling. "Did she now?" He asked with pride on his voice, "I'm glad she'll take it seriously. She has a lot of potential and I know she'll surpass me one day."

Miki got a sad look on her face and looked down. "You were right about Naruto?" She said. Inoichi looked at her with a look of confusion, "He's completely afraid of meeting with adults. It was sad to see how he reacted when he saw me. He looked so afraid."

Inoichi smiled sadly and laid in bed with his wife. "It'll be fine don't worry." He said to his wife, "He has Ino now. I'm sure she'll get rid of his fear of stranger. It might be hard since I suspect is a trauma but she'll get it done."

Miki smiled. "I believe she will and maybe he'll help Ino with her own problems." With that the two fell asleep. Hoping that Ino could fix the mistakes the village had made.

* * *

The next day Naruto woke up with a smile. Today would begin his real training and he would take the first step into his sort of promise with Ino. When he thought about it, it was a little strange to have become good friends with Ino in such a short time. It helped that they had a lot in common and he wondered why they hadn't spoken more in the past.

He pushed those thoughts away and prepared for training. He put on some clean clothes, ate a light breakfast and walked out the door with a smile. He had made a good friend in Ino and he would show her that he could become a lot stronger.

**Ch. 3 End**

**This marks the end of the third chapter. There will be a short time skip next chapter that will go over Naruto's training. I would like to ask you guys if I should put some of the fillers on my story. The story, as it is now, will only go up to about thirty chapters. So please tell me if you think I should put the fillers. Now I'll answer some questions you might have:**

**The reason Ino's mom is so sentimental about Naruto is because she has been living a safe sheltered life. Also, as you can see now, Naruto is a little afraid of adults on the village. He pranks them but he nevfer really strikes conversation with them, this will change eventually though. That is all for now and thanks again for reading my story.**


	4. The Nine Tailed Fox

**I bring a new chapter today. Thanks to all of those who take the time to read the story. There's a time skip of one week in this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Ch. 4 The Nine-Tailed Fox**

It had been one week since Naruto's training with Jiraiya had started. The blond had improved by leaps and bounds and didn't appear to be slowing down. Jiraiya was proud of his student, even though he wouldn't be telling him anytime soon, and knew that he would be the only one capable of surpassing the Fourth. If it weren't for the boy's fear of using the Kyuubi's chakra then he would easily be high chuunin level. Jiraiya had hinted that he wanted Naruto to use the fox's chakra but Naruto would refuse.

Naruto had improved on, what he had said, were his weaknesses. The boy had easily grasped the toad style taijutsu. It had been difficult at first, since Naruto would always rush into the attacks, but Jiraiya had drilled that out of him. The blond was on his way to mastering the taijutsu but, again, would have been a lot better mixed with the Kyuubi's chakra. It was a shame for Naruto to ignore something that would give him a great advantage over any other ninja.

The blond had mastered the two wind chakra control exercises already. Naruto had already attempted to use the jutsu Kakashi had given him but had some difficulty performing them. Sometimes the jutsu wouldn't have enough power behind them while other times Naruto would put too much chakra behind the jutsu, making the attack too hard to control. The boy was making some progress but would need help on his wind jutsu.

Naruto had also improved on his sealing. It had been hard to make the boy pay attention when they started but when he got the basics down, he began to soak everything up like a sponge. The blond could now use his own seals for basic stuff like packing things into scrolls, making paper bombs and making restriction seals. It would take a while for Naruto to learn advanced sealing and Jiraiya had a feeling that this would be difficult for Naruto to learn.

The only thing that the boy still struggled in was summoning. He had continued to summon weak toads and had even summoned a tadpole once. Jiraiya knew that in order to get his student to master summoning, he would need to get the boy to use the fox's chakra. It would be hard to get Naruto to use it since he didn't plan on using that chakra anytime soon. The sannin would have to trick Naruto into using it but knew that Minato wouldn't approve if he still liver.

Jiraiya sighed as he thought about what the boy still needed to learn. It would take time to train the boy and from what he heard, the Akutski had begun to move. They hadn't captured any jinchuuriki but they had begun to prepare to do so. Jiraiya would need to train the boy in order to make him strong enough to protect himself. This would require his full attention but he couldn't stay in the same place for too long, this meant that he had to take the boy on a long training trip. The sound of giggling was heard and Jiraiya smile. He would push his thoughts aside for now. Right now there was potential research material waiting for him.

* * *

Naruto walked through town with a smile. Jiraiya had treated him to ramen since his training was going great. The sannin had asked if he liked any girl and, though skeptical at first, Naruto admitted to having a crush on Sakura. Jiraiya had then asked him to find her and give her a hug or kiss and that they would meet for training the following day. Naruto had been flagger stabbed but agreed to give her a hug when Jiraiya said that it was part of his training. So Naruto was currently looking for his teammate with his usual fake smile.

He spotted the pink-haired girl on the distance and gulped. He knew what would happen if he just outright asked her so that left catching her by surprise. The girl would probably hit him when he hugged her. Naruto thought that maybe Jiraiya had asked him to do this in order to test his resistance. The blond walked up to his teammate and waved.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto greeted with his usual cheerfulness.

Sakura frowned. "Naruto, shouldn't you be training or something? You're up against Neji after all." She said, "He is a genius like Sasuke so he'll be hard to beat."

Naruto frowned. "As if Sasuke could actually beat me." The blond crossed his arms and huffed, "I'm actually in the middle of my training."

"What kind of training?" Sakura asked.

The blond gulped and had a light blush on his face. "W-well you see…" The teen began, "What's that?" Naruto pointed behind Sakura and the moment she turned around hugged her around the waist.

Sakura fumed. "Naruto!" She punched the blond away before walking away with a stomp on her step, "Stupid pervert."

Naruto sat on the ground and found that his nose was bleeding slightly. "Man, Sakura packs a punch. I have to commend Ino on actually fighting her, when I next see her." The blond murmured.

"You know, that you're not really supposed to throw yourself at a girl, right?" Came a voice.

Naruto looked up and found himself in front of Ino. "Hey Ino!" He said with a smile, "What are you doing here?"

Ino sighed. "I just came back from my training with Asuma-sensei." She explained, "But that doesn't matter right now. You're bleeding Naruto."

The blond shook his head. "I'm okay, don't worry." He stood up and smiled, "A bloody nose is not too bad."

The kunoichi frowned and crossed her arms. Naruto knew that look and sighed. "You know where we're going already, right?" Ino asked. Naruto nodded in understanding, "Let's go."

Naruto followed Ino with a pout. Ino would take him to her house again and look at his wounds. They had been spending more time together since their semi-promise and had come to know each other a lot better. Whenever Ino would see Naruto in bad condition after training, she would take him to her house and fix him up though Naruto still avoided bumping into her mom. The two blonds had been keeping up with each other's improvements. Naruto was happy to know that Ino had actually taken his words to heart and had improved on her skills.

Ino had learned that she had a water affinity and had begun to learn how to control water with her chakra. Asuma had told Ino that she had good chakra control and it would only be a few days until she mastered the water element. For that same reason he had gotten Kurenai to teach the girl some genjutsu, which she picked up rather easily. Her chakra capacity was still kind of low but had been improving as her stamina.

The two would get together on their days off training and teach each other any new things they learned. Naruto had been teaching Ino how to control wind chakra while Ino, in turn, taught Naruto how to control water chakra. Though they hated to admit it, the two were doing completely horrible. It was true that a ninja could pick up a second nature but that took a long time. The two blonds had made little progress but still tried whenever they got the chance.

When the two finally got to Ino's home, they entered and made their way to Ino's room. Naruto had become quite familiar with the home since he was there constantly. Ino still told him to talk to her parents if he could but he would be too nervous to do so. He wanted to make Ino happy, since she was a good friend, but his past experiences with adults made him keep his distance from them.

"Sit down while I get the first aid kit." Ino said with a sigh. Naruto was a good friend but Ino was mad at his inability to stay safe. Though she had to admit that she actually enjoyed healing his wounds since it made her feel needed and she was glad to help Naruto get better.

Naruto sat on the all too familiar chair and ran a hand through his hair. The blond was glad that Ino would worry about him and go to the trouble to heal his wounds but he hated to bother people, much less his friends. Ino emerged from the bathroom with the first-aid on hand. The teen couldn't help but sigh, he was getting tired of the burning brown stuff Ino would put on his cuts.

Ino gave Naruto a smile. "Don't worry; I'll get you cleaned up in no time!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

Naruto smiled back. Even if the stuff Ino would put on him burned like hell, he was glad to see her smile. Ino had become one of Naruto's most important people and he would do anything to see her happy. "Thanks Ino." He said with a smile.

"Don't mention it." She replied happily. With that Ino began to work on the area around Naruto's nose. She saw that part of the skin had been torn off with the punch the blond received, "Remind me not to piss off Forehead."

Naruto chuckled. "She packs a nasty punch." He replied, wincing slightly as Ino put the brown stuff on his wound.

Ino frowned. "Why would she do this to you? Next time I see her, I'll give her a piece of my mind." She declared, "What's wrong with her, anyway?"

Naruto laughed nervously. "You don't have to do that." He said, "It was kind of my fault anyway."

Ino sighed. "Okay I'll drop it but if she ever hurts you again, I'll knock some sense into her." She finished working on Naruto's wound and patted him on the head, "All done."

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "Don't treat me like a baby!"

Ino giggled and shook her head. "You're really something Naruto." She smiled and held out her hand, "All done, you may leave now."

Naruto smiled and took Ino's hand. "That's so nice of you." He joked, "I really do need to get back to my training." Ino helped Naruto up and the two began to walk out of the house.

Ino looked confused. "I thought that you were done with your training with Jiraiya by this time of day?"

The orange-clad ninja smiled. "I am done training with him for today but I have to do some training of my own." He explained, "I'm having trouble with my wind jutsus and have to practice."

"You're already practicing your jutsus?" Ino asked in surprise. Naruto nodded with a grin, "Well, why don't you ask Asuma-sensei for help? He's a wind user after all."

Naruto smiled in excitement. "What are we waiting for? Let's go see him!"

Ino sighed. "You're really loud sometimes, you know?" Despite herself, Ino smiled, "Fine, let's go see Asuma-sensei." With that the two blonds left the home to meet with Asuma.

* * *

Ino led Naruto to Team Ten's training ground. It was very similar to Team Seven's training ground, with the only difference being a small hill next to a rocky area. From the condition the rocky area was in, Naruto guessed that it was used for sparring or training. Asuma stood on the training ground with Shikamaru and Choji. He gave the two blonds an odd look before walking over to them.

"What are you guys doing here? You're training is over for today, Ino." Asuma said with a look of slight confusion.

Ino smiled. "We didn't come here for my own training, I already trained a lot." She explained, "We came here hoping that you could help Naruto with his own training."

Asuma raised a brow. "Why would you need my help?" He asked Naruto.

Ino elbowed Naruto's ribs as a sign to start talking. The blond winced and glared at Ino. "Why'd you do that?"

Ino returned the glare. "I'm signaling you to tell him why you need his help!"

Naruto frowned. "Well, you shouldn't have signaled me like that." He poked Ino on the side, making her yelp, "See, it hurts when you hit someone on the ribs."

Ino blushed in anger. "Why'd you do that?" She exclaimed before elbowing him on the side again.

Asuma watched the exchange in amusement. He was glad that his student had made a new friend and from what he could see, they were quite close.

The jonin chuckled. "What do you need my help with, Naruto?"

Naruto stopped poking Ino and turned to Asuma. "I'm having some trouble using my wind jutsus and Ino said that you might be able to help."

Asuma ran a hand through his beard. "It's quite rare to see wind users in Konoha." He began, "Have you done any of the chakra control exercises?"

Naruto nodded. "I've done the leaf and rock cutting exercises."

Asuma smiled in approval. "So I take it that you're having problems with the power behind the jutsu?" He asked. Naruto nodded, "Very well, I'll help you out. It might take a few days so I want you to come here whenever you can, you'll be training with Team Ten from now on."

Ino smiled. "That'll be great Asuma-sensei!" She said in excitement, "I only hope you can keep up with us, Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "You're the ones who aren't going to be able to keep up with me." He said, "Thanks for helping me out, Asuma-sensei!"

Asuma grinned. "Don't worry about it kid." He began, "We'll begin tomorrow at two in the afternoon."

"Got it!" Naruto said with a smile. If he was able to master the jutsu then his skills would have improved overall. He would have the strength to protect his friends in no time. He made a note to thank Ino later; she didn't know how much she had helped him with everything. He was glad to call her a friend and was even happier to get to spend more time with her; he really looked forward to his training with Team Ten.

* * *

Naruto sat on the ground in front of Asuma. The jonin had been explaining the concepts of wind chakra. Ino was sitting against a tree and watching the two train. Shikamaru and Choji had been given the rest of the day off and left the training grounds. Naruto learned that wind chakra came from his surroundings not like other elements that came from within.

"What jutsu are you trying to learn?" Asuma asked once he was done with his explanation."

"I've only tried two so far." Naruto informed, "One is the Spiraling Wind Ball and the other is the Wind Wave."

Asuma nodded. "Those have great use in battle." He said, "They are easy to master once you get a hold of the basics. In order to use the Spiraling Wind Ball, you need to keep molding the chakra after gathering it. As for the Wind Wave, what you need to do is create a smooth end instead of a sharp one, as you learned in your training."

"I want you to use the jutsu with the things I told you in mind." Asuma pointed at a large boulder, "Use the jutsu on that boulder and remember what I told you."

Naruto nodded and stood up. He stared at the boulder in complete seriousness and took a deep breath. He blew into his hand and began to mold the wind chakra. A ball of compressed air formed on his hand, it wavered slightly but it was still passable.

"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" Naruto yelled as he ran at the bolder. The blond slammed the ball into the rock, making the attack break apart pieces of the rock before unleashing the compressed wind in a small explosion. Naruto grinned when he saw the large whole on the boulder. This attack had been a lot better than any of the others he had done.

"Way to go Naruto!" Ino cheered with a smile.

Asuma nodded in approval. "That was very good Naruto but you didn't use the attack like it was supposed to." He said with a sad smile, "You are supposed to throw the ball not keep it in your hand like that. Let's see the next one."

"Got it." Naruto said with a nod. The blond flashed through hand signs and began to gather wind chakra, "Wind Style: Wind Wave!" The teen swung his hand and a large wave of air shot towards the boulder. It hit with great impact and broke small pieces of the rock.

"That was great Naruto." Asuma praised, "Take into mind that Wind Wave is used to push people aside instead of hurting them."

Naruto smiled. All he needed to do now was perfect his spiraling ball and start practicing his other two jutsu. "Thanks for the help, Asuma-sensei."

"Don't mention it." Asuma replied, "I'm sorry to say this but I have to go. I promised I would be somewhere and its getting kind of late. I'll see you two tomorrow." The jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke with a look of worry on his face.

"Will he be alright?" Naruto asked Ino.

Ino smiled. "Don't worry about it, he's probably late for a date with Kurenai-sensei." She looked at Naruto's clothes and smirked, "I have a surprise for all your hard work Naruto."

"Really?" Naruto asked in excitement.

"Yup." Ino said with a smirk, "Just follow me." She smiled inwardly when she heard Naruto cheered. She had gotten to know the blond and knew that he wouldn't be too happy with the surprise.

* * *

"What? Why are we here?" Naruto exclaimed with a frown. Ino's surprise had turned out to be a clothes shop.

Ino frowned. "Look at the stuff you wear." She deadpanned, "You need to get some clothes that make you look more serious."

The blond pouted. "There's nothing wrong with my clothes." He said with his arms crossed, "Besides I'm not sure this store is for me." He really didn't want to get thrown out in front of Ino, that would only raise questions and he would be forced to tell her about the fox.

The kunoichi smiled. "Don't worry about it Naruto." She said, "I'm sure that you'll like this store. It opened a few months ago and has the best clothes from neighboring villages. Everything there, even the workers, are from other villages."

Naruto's expression changed into a hopeful one. "Are you sure everyone there are from different villages?" He smiled when he saw Ino nod; this would mean that they might not know of his condition, "Fine, let's go."

Ino smiled and took hold of Naruto's sleeve before dragging him in. The inside of the shop was pretty spacious and had many people looking around. He noticed that some of them threw him dirty looks but the workers simply kept to themselves.

"Welcome!" A female worker with long brown hair greeted, "Please call for me if you need help looking for certain clothing."

Ino smiled. "We're looking for shinobi clothing." She pointed at Naruto, "It's for him, so could you show us to what would fit him?"

The worker smiled at the two and got a weird look on her eye. "It's always nice to see young couples shopping together." Naruto's and Ino's right eye twitched at the mention of the word couple, "Follow me, I'm sure we'll find something you'll like."

The woman led them to an area with many pieces of clothing for shinobi. Some of them had metal plates and some had many hidden compartments. Naruto's eyes immediately landed on a lone orange and black jacket. He instantly ran over to it and smiled excitedly.

"Don't even think about it!" Ino snapped, "We're here to get rid of the orange. Get some other colors!"

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "Fine." He said with a sigh, "I'll get something else."

The worker giggled. "We have some selection over here." She said, gaining Ino's attention, "Please follow me."

Ino followed the worker while Naruto stayed behind. The blond had found some clothes that he actually liked and there was no orange on them. He hated the idea of not wearing any orange but Ino would only lash out him again if he got something with the smallest tint of orange.

Ino smiled in excitement. "This is perfect!" She declared. Ino was holding a purple t-shirt and a pair of purple pants for Naruto. She thought of finding matching ninja sandals but noticed the absence of said blond, "Where did he go?"

"Here I am!" Came a loud voice. Ino turned around and gasped. Naruto was dressed in a new wardrobe, with no sign of orange.

The blond wore dark blue pants with a kunai hustler on his right thigh. He wore a pair of black ninja sandals and a pair of black fingerless gloves with small metal plates, like his teacher Jiraiya. He also wore a long-sleeve black shirt with a white spiral on its back. He had also changed his headband from blue to black. Ino thought that it was a much better and need improvement.

Ino gave Naruto an approving smile. "Not bad Naruto." She said, "You actually look like a ninja now."

Naruto frowned. "Clothes don't make the ninja." He stated, "I'm going to go pay. You can wait for me outside if you want."

Ino nodded and went outside. Once there she gave off a big sigh. It had been a very long day for her and was glad that it would be over soon, since the soon was already setting. She had been glad to have spent the day with Naruto since she felt that she could be herself when she was with him. She would show her weak side and trust Naruto not to take advantage of it. Ino was glad to have a friend whom she could trust this much.

Naruto came out of the store with a sad look. Gama had taken quite a blow today but would survive. The blond hated to hurt his companion like that and wouldn't it be doing it again any time soon.

Ino smiled when she saw Naruto come out. "Ready to go?" She asked.

Naruto nodded. "Do you need me to walk you home?"

Ino gave a small smile and shook her head. "I'll be okay." She said, "I need some time alone anyway."

Naruto gave Ino a genuine smile. "Thank you Ino."

"I just took you to a shop, it wasn't a big deal," Ino responded with a grin.

Naruto shook his head. "No, thank you for everything." He gazed at her eyes and she couldn't help but blush. Her heartbeat rose due to the intensity of his gaze, "You've been really good to me. So, thank you for all you've done for me. I'll see you later." With a single wave Naruto made his way home.

Ino stood frozen on the spot. She had been completely thrown off by what Naruto had said. The girl smiled, that idiot had made it seem like he hadn't done anything for her. If only he knew how much he had done for her. He had made her take training seriously and had given her a reason to get stronger, she didn't want to be a burden on anyone and would get stronger to help others.

"No…" Ino began before smiling towards Naruto's retreating figure, "Thank you Naruto."

* * *

Naruto panted and frowned, no matter what he did he still wasn't able to summon bigger toads. Like usual, he had gone to see Jiraiya at the waterfall where they would always train. Jiraiya had told him that his usual training would be postponed until he could summon bigger toads. The blond could feel that he was running out of chakra and gritted his teeth, he was getting frustrated with his lack of improvement.

"That's enough kid." Jiraiya said with a serious look, "I'm going to take you to a place where you'll be able to master summoning."

The blond gave Jiraiya a confused look. If the sannin really knew of a place like that, then why hadn't he taken him there earlier? It didn't make much sense but considering that he was dealing with Jiraiya it didn't have to. "Where is that place, Jiraiya-sensei?"

The sannin grinned. "Now where would be the fun in just telling you kid?" He motioned for Naruto to follow as he left their training spot.

As Jiraiya leapt through trees, he looked back to see Naruto trying to keep up with him. The sannin sighed when he thought of shat he was about to do. He had no doubt that Minato would've never approve but it was necessary for the well-being of Naruto. There were S-class ninja after him and if he didn't learn to control the Nine-Tails then he was doomed. The sannin broke from his line of thought when he saw his destination on the distance.

Jiraiya jumped down and landed on a small clearing. "This is it Naruto."

Naruto looked around with a frown. "What gives? There isn't anything special about this place!" The blond exclaimed.

Jiraiya frowned. "Be quiet!" The sannin exclaimed. Naruto instantly got quiet and looked at Jiraiya in confusion, "I brought you here so you could stare death on the face."

Naruto looked confused. "What are you talking about Jiraiya-sensei?" The blond asked. Jiraiya didn't say anything only raised his hand and pushed him away.

Before he knew what happened, Naruto was falling large an endless chasm. He didn't know what Jiraiya had been thinking but tried to hold on to something. He tried stop his fall by grabbing onto the walls of the chasm but found that they were too slippery. The blond was out of chakra from the constant usage of the summoning jutsu meaning that he couldn't use any of his ninjutsu to help him. His vision started to blacken before he finally lost consciousness.

* * *

Naruto woke up in a kind of sewer. There was ankle-deep water and not much light except for the brownish glow of the walls. The place looked vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it. He looked around before hearing deep breathing and most of all, warmth. The blond walked towards the source of the warmth and found himself in front of a cage.

"What is this?" He asked himself. He looked at the large cage in wonder before finally gazing at an advanced restriction seal, "T-this must be."

A large face made itself known from inside the cage. It had a large evil grin and piercing red eyes. "**Hello Naruto."** It growled.

Naruto gaped. "K-Kyuubi."

**Ch. 4 End**

**This marks the end of chapter four. Next chapter will show the meeting with the Kyuubi (who won't be good or like Naruto) and will be the final chapter of Naruto's training. The Chuunin Exam finals will start on the last part of next chapter. I would like to warn you that there will be some major changes on what happens during the finals.**


	5. Another Jinchuuriki?

**Here's the next chapter guys. I would like to thank all of those who had the time to review and read this story. Anyway, this is the last chapter of Naruto's training and the beginning of the Chuunin Exam finals. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 5 Another Jinchuuriki?**

Naruto looked at the giant face of the fox in fear. It was the same face that had been on his dream. The same smile that had laughed as it killed all those precious to him. The blond felt memories of the dream come back to him and gritted his teeth. Emotions from the dream came back but the most dominant one was rage.

The fox gave an evil smirk and growled. "**Come closer!" **The Kyuubi roared with rage, "**I'm going to rip you to shreds for keeping me here."**

Naruto trembled slightly at the demonic voice but stood his ground. "Shut up you damned fox." The blond growled, "I need some of your chakra or I'm going to die."

"**I'll kill you for your insolence brat!" **The fox growled in a powerful voice.

"If I die then you die with me. I'm sure you don't want that," Naruto said with a frown.

The Kyuubi growled before breaking into an evil smirk. "**I will give you some of my chakra now but I will kill you as soon as I get the chance. You and your puny village will tremble before my power!"**

Red chakra leaked out of the cage and made its way to Naruto. The blond grimaced when the chakra enveloped him. The chakra was foul and had nothing but raw power. Naruto's skin was boiling due to the intensity and his insides felt as if they were on fire. The blond felt darkness fill his vision and the last thing he saw was the smirking face of the Kyuubi.

* * *

Naruto regained consciousness and saw that he was still falling down the chasm. He felt the fox's chakra give him strength and he bit his right thumb, drawing blood. The only thing that would save him would be summoning a large toad. The blond ran through hand signs and focused most of his chakra on the summoning. Naruto's eyes widened when he formed a giant cloud of smoke and landed on something squishy. The blond looked down and saw a giant red head with many warts. The large red toad stopped its fall by taking hold of both of the rocky walls with its arms and feet.

"**Who summoned me?" **Naruto heard the giant toad exclaim, "**Where are you Jiraiya? For summoning me in a place like this, I'll make you pay."**

Naruto smiled in excitement. He had summoned a giant toad, that meant that he had mastered summoning. "I summoned you!" The blond yelled from the top of the toad's head before jumping to the toad's nose, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm the one who summoned you."

The toad frowned. "**Quit joking. No kid should be able to summon me, the Chief Toad Gamabunta." **The chief toad jumped out of the chasm and landed on a large clearing, "**Jiraiya! Where are you?"**

The blond frowned. "I told you that _I _summoned you!" He proceeded to glare at the toad, "Why won't you believe me?"

The chief scowled. "**If you're so persistent then I'll give you a test." **The toad started, "**If you are able to stay on my head until sundown then I'll let you become my henchman."**

Naruto grinned. "Fine by me chief toad!" He ran to Gamabunta's head and prepared himself, "I'll pass this test for sure." Gamabunta frowned at the last comment and, without warning, leapt from his place on the ground at a high speed.

Naruto screamed as the toad jumped. It was difficult to stay in place because of how fast the toad was jumping. The blond was trying to stabilize himself on the toad's head by using chakra on his feet. This proved hard because of all the wind against him and because the sheer speed of the toad prevented him from concentrating.

Jiraiya watched the blond with a smirk. It hadn't been wise to anger Gamabunta and he was paying for it. The sannin knew that the chief would be angry at him but knew that he wouldn't mind when he told him who Naruto was. The toad had made a promise to the Fourth and would honor it on toad's honor. Jiraiya chuckled when he saw that Naruto was about to fall, only to use his clones to save himself, the blond proved to be a gun person to have around.

* * *

The sun was setting and everything was peaceful around the Leaf Village, well except for the giant toad trying to shake a kid off its head. The toad soared through the skies as it jumped, before landing with a great tremor. Only Jiraiya was near the area since he was watching his student.

Naruto was drenched in sweat and had a small trail of blood under his mouth from the time where he slammed into the toad's head. The fox's chakra had disappeared hours ago and Naruto had been forced to use the little chakra he had left. The blond was so focused on staying on the toad's head that he had lost the sense of time long ago. He was only running on the will to beat the toad and nothing else.

Gamabunta was growing impatient and mad. The blond kid had been able to stay atop his head and the sun was already going down. He had to give it to the kid, he had a respectful determination. The toad was already considering letting the boy summon toads but he wouldn't let him pass his test. If the blond passed then that would mean that the toad had been beaten on a sort of bet, and he wouldn't have that.

With one last powerful heap the toad tried to shake the blond off. Naruto hung on to a large wart with all his strength. He felt himself lose his grip until he was finally blown off the toad. The blond gritted his teeth and gather whatever chakra he had left.

The toad smirked when he saw the blond fall off his head. He had been victorious but he would still let the kid summon toads since they were always impressed by determination. Naruto was much like Jiraiya on his will to never give up.

"Wind Style: Wind Wave!" Naruto yelled. He launched the attack on the opposite direction of the toad in order to try to get back to the toad's head.

Gamabunta gave a look of disbelief. The boy would just not quit. Naruto launched towards him at a great speed with the setting sun behind him. A shadow was cast on Naruto's face so that only his blond hair and blue eyes were visible. At that moment Gamabunta was reminded of his last summoner, other than Jiraiya, the Fourth Hokage.

"I won't fail!" Naruto yelled as he slammed, headfirst, to the toad's head. He stifled a cry at the pain on his head and watched as the sun disappeared on the horizon. The blond smiled, he had passed the test, and finally blacked out. With no more strength, Naruto fell lifelessly from the toad's head.

"**You have guts kid." **Gamabunta said as he stopped Naruto's falling by wrapping him on his tongue. The toad set him on the ground, "**You can summon us toads whenever you need help." **With that the chief toad disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Jiraiya walked over to his fallen student and smiled proudly at him. Naruto had done a great job with nothing but will. The blond was truly surprising and the sannin had no doubt that the blond would surpass him one day. For some reason Jiraiya couldn't wait to get Naruto's training started. The blond would go places and Jiraiya would be there to guide him. For now the blond needed some medical attention and rest. The sannin would have to leave town for a while but he would be back by the time the chuunin exam finals were over.

* * *

It had been two days since the test with Gamabunta and Naruto was still asleep. The hit he received on the head had fractured his skull but, thanks to the Kyuubi's healing, his skull had been healed quickly. A few of Naruto's friends had heard about his state and had visited him. Ino had visited Naruto constantly, due to their close friendship. Much to Shikamaru's annoyance, Ino had been asking everyone if they knew what happened to the blond and wouldn't stop asking whenever their team was training.

Naruto stirred from his sleep. He opened his eyes but immediately closed them because of the brightness of the room. He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was his test with the chief toad.

'_Did I pass the test?' _He finally opened his eyes and saw white walls and curtains. He instantly knew that he was in the hospital and felt an itch on his head. Naruto tried to scratch his head but felt bandages around his head. It was then that he remembered everything. He had passed the test by slamming into the toad.

"Looks like you're finally awake." Naruto heard a voice say. He turned to the voice and found the lazy genius leaning on the wall with a basket filled with fruit on his hand.

"Shikamaru?" Naruto said in confusion. He never really thought that Shikamaru would visit him, in fact nobody, except for the Third and Iruka, had ever visited him on a hospital.

Shikamaru sighed. "Good thing you're finally awake. Ino's been worried about you and she wouldn't stop bothering us with questions about you."

Naruto looked confused. "Why would she be worried about me?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "You're really dumb sometimes." He gave Naruto a small grin, "You're our friend and Ino's grown really close to you. Everyone who knows you're here has visited you at least once."

'_I matter to a lot of people now.' _He thought with a smile, a real one this time.

"Enough of this sappy moment." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "I brought some food to Choji but he's not allowed to eat any of it. Do you want it?"

Naruto smiled. "Sure, I'm pretty hungry." He got an evil smirk and chuckled, "Why don't we eat this in front of Choji?"

"You're on," Shikamaru said with a smirk of his own.

The two left the room and walked over to Choji's but stopped when they felt killer intent. Naruto turned towards the source and saw that it was coming from one of the patient rooms. He gave a glance to Shikamaru, who nodded in assurance, and the two entered the room.

Inside, they saw Gaara in front of Lee's bed. His sand was leaking from under him and making its way to Lee. Shikamaru stopped Gaara with his Shadow Possession Jutsu while a Naruto clone moved Lee away from the sand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto exclaimed with a frown.

Gaara glared at the two. "I must prove my existence." He said in a cold voice, "He hurt me and he must die."

Shikamaru was panting lightly and sweat trickled down his face. "He's too strong. I won't be able to hold him for long."

Naruto grinned and prepared his Spiraling Wind Ball Jutsu. "Don't worry I'll knock him down it he does escape."

Gaara got a psychotic look on his face. "I can't be beaten. I have a demon sealed within me." Naruto and Shikamaru gasped, "I was destined to kill ever since I was born. I prove my existence by killing anyone on my path."

Naruto froze. _'He's just like I was. He has a demon inside of him too.' _Naruto's wind ball dispersed.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru asked with a frown.

Before Naruto could answer a new person entered the room. "That's enough everyone, this is a hospital." Gai said with a frown. He took Lee from the clone and laid him on the bed. "Lee needs rest so you shouldn't fight here."

"I will kill him later," Gaara said as he walked out the door.

Naruto and Shikamaru left the room soon after. They didn't want to leave Lee along but knew that Gai knew what was best for his student. Naruto was still shocked at the revelation of Gaara being like him. Unlike Naruto, Gaara didn't have anyone to acknowledge him. Naruto remembered how it felt to be completely alone and was scared to think about it. He couldn't believe how much pain he had taken and knew that if it weren't for the third and Iruka then he would've been the same as Gaara.

"Man, that was way too troublesome." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "What now?"

Naruto smiled, despite himself, "We still have to eat the fruit, let's go!"

* * *

"Where is that perv?" Naruto muttered as he walked through the streets of Konoha. He had been looking for Jiraiya after being discharged from the hospital. The sannin was nowhere to be found and Naruto was starting to think that Jiraiya wasn't even in the village anymore. With no more Jiraiya then Naruto would need to train by himself or increase his training with Team Ten.

Naruto sighed. "I'm done looking for the perv." He crossed his arms and frowned, "From now on I'm training with Team Ten."

The blond changed his direction and made his way to the Yamanaka Flower shop. It was around two in the afternoon so Naruto knew that Ino was currently working. Spending time with the girl had given Naruto time to know when she was free. The girl would work from twelve o'clock until two thirty. She would rest for half an hour before going training with her team until seven o'clock. Naruto would usually walk her home and the two would take breaks from training on the weekends.

Naruto found himself in front of the shop and smiled. He was always glad to see Ino since she had become one of his most precious people. For some reason he always found himself looking forward to see her and whenever he wasn't with her, he found himself wishing that she was. The blond entered the shop and saw Ino reading a magazine behind the counter.

Naruto walked over to the counter and smiled. "Hey Ino." The girl nodded without taking her eyes of the magazine. Naruto sighed, Ino would break away from the world whenever she was reading something interesting, "Ino!"

Ino flinched at the loud voice and snapped her head towards the source. "Naruto?" She exclaimed with a surprised look. She smiled and gave the blond a hug. "How are you? Why were you in the hospital? Are you sure you're okay?"

Naruto found himself blushing at the close contact. "Y-yeah." He said with a nervous smile, "I feel a lot better."

Ino pulled away from Naruto and smiled. "I'm glad." She said with a sweet smile before breaking into a frown, "If you ever scare me like that again, there'll be consequences. You're whole head was wrapped in bandages."

Naruto smiled apologetically. "Don't worry I'll be fine." He broke into a foxy grin, "I still have to be Hokage right?"

Ino smiled and shook her head. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I came here to ask you something," He said with a smile.

"What is it?" Ino asked with a confused look.

Naruto grinned. "Apparently, Jiraiya-sensei left town so I was wondering if I could train more time with you guys?"

Ino couldn't help but smile. "Of course! It's always fun to have you around. Asuma-sensei won't have a problem with it."

* * *

"I have a problem with this," Asuma said with a serious expression.

Ino's face fell. "What do you mean?" She frowned and crossed her arms, "I don't see anything wrong with Naruto training with us."

Asuma sighed. "If he trains with us all the time then you two will get distracted." Asuma shook his head when he saw the two blond's give him an odd look. He guessed that they still hadn't noticed, "Fine he can train with us."

Naruto and Ino cheered. Asuma couldn't help but smile, though the two didn't know it, they had a deep bond. The two were alike in many ways and Asuma was glad that they made each other happy. He was especially glad that Naruto had made Ino take her training seriously.

"Naruto come here for a moment." Asuma said. Naruto walked over with a curious expression, "I have a new exercise for you."

Asuma took out a small knife and gave it to Naruto. "That's one of the knives I use for battle. They can be infused with wind chakra to have a longer reach and enhanced power." He explained, "I want you to infuse that knife with chakra and if you surprise me then I'll let you keep it."

Naruto smiled in excitement. "Don't worry Asuma-sensei, I'll have this down in no time!" The blond went over to the nearby river and took off his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Asuma asked in slight confusion.

Naruto grinned. "Jiraiya-sensei was teaching me how to dispel genjutsu and taught me how to incorporate chakra into things." The blond explained, "If I'm right, all I have to do is use the same method to incorporate chakra into the knife and then mold it like I did with the leaf and rock exercises."

Asuma broke into a small grin. The blond had gotten the concept down pretty easily. "That's all there is too it, good luck."

Ino smiled at her friend. Naruto had gotten down what to do pretty quickly. By spending time with the blond, Ino had deducted that Naruto hid his true capabilities. For what purpose, she did not know, but what she did know was that if Naruto was serious all the time then he would make most of them look like idiots. Ino had been encouraging Naruto on showing his true self and was glad to see that he was slowly doing so.

"Stop drooling over Naruto, Ino." Shikamaru said with a sigh, "We have to start training."

Ino blushed and glared at Shikamaru. "I wasn't staring at him!" She declared, "I was just lost in thought."

Shikamaru sighed. Blonds were really troublesome but most of all loud. He didn't understand why the two wouldn't just come out and say it but then again they might not even realize it. The genius pushed those thoughts away. Worrying over what Ino and Naruto felt was way too troublesome. He was already forced to train so why bother thinking about the blonds. The worst thing was that he had to fight a blonde on the chuunin exams; that would be such a pain.

* * *

A week passed and things couldn't be better for Naruto. He had grown close to the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Naruto would be often found eating with Choji after their training was over. Shikamaru and Naruto had developed a good friendship due to their shogi matches in which Shikamaru, much to his annoyance, actually had to try though he viewed Naruto as a worthy adversary. Naruto and Ino had grown even closer to a point where they would spend most of their free time together. The whiskered blond still chased after Sakura but his attempts had greatly lessened.

The blond had learned to infuse wind chakra unto Asuma's knife in three days, due to the help of his clones and knowledge with chakra manipulation. Asuma had been impressed and gave Naruto the knife and even taught him how to use it in battle. Naruto had also learned to use all of the jutsu Kakashi gave him though he still used too much chakra when performing them. The blond was glad of the progress he had made and knew that he had a good chance of beating Neji.

Only one day remained until the Chuunin Exam finals started. Naruto walked through town with his usual obliviousness to those around him. He had been told to rest since the finals were the following day. Naruto had nothing to do since most of his friends were busy at the moment. Ino would be working, Choji was home, Shikamaru was spending the day watching the clouds and Sakura was nowhere to be found. The blond sighed, days like this were boring to the blond.

With nothing else to do, Naruto figured that he would visit Ino and see if he could help with anything. He helped around the shop from time to time and Ino greatly appreciated it. Naruto had run into Ino's mom from time to time but he was getting better at talking to her. The woman was nice and treated him like a person not a thing.

Thinking about his old treatment, Naruto couldn't help but think of Gaara. They both had had the same life filled with nothing but loneliness and cold glares. Naruto had been lucky to have met people who acknowledged him while Gaara had nobody. Gaara had been left on that dark place while Naruto had been taken away from it. The blond knew that Gaara was stronger than him because he had been able to live his whole life like that.

Naruto dismissed those thoughts when he saw that he was approaching the Yamanaka Flower shop. He entered the shop with a grin. Something about the shop would always put him at ease. Maybe it was getting to spend time with his friend or the smell of flowers.

"Hi Naruto." Ino greeted with a smile, "What are you doing here?"

Naruto smiled back. "There's nothing to do so I thought of paying you a visit," The blond said, "Got anything for me to do?"

"Well there are some seed bags that need to be moved," Ino said, "But why would you waste your time here?"

Naruto grinned. "I'm not wasting time." He said as he walked over to the bags, "I'm glad to help you out."

Ino smiled in appreciation. "Thanks Naruto. I'll make it up to you someday." She looked at Naruto with a smile, "Nervous about tomorrow? You're going up against a genius."

Naruto huffed. "As if I'd get beaten by Neji." He picked up a bag and placed it on a small cart, "I've been working my butt off all month. I'm not going to let Neji beat me."

Ino giggled. "Don't worry Naruto I'm sure you'll win. Besides, you'll have me cheering for you." She said with a smile, "My cheers work wonders, just so you know."

Naruto chuckled. "It'll be nice to have someone rooting for me." He said as he placed another bag of seeds on the cart, "Everyone thinks that Neji will win but I'll show them what I'm made of."

"I'm sure you will Naruto," Ino said with a smile.

"Thanks Ino," Naruto said with the same look he had given her before. His eyes shone with appreciation and she found herself staring into his eyes. Her heartbeat rose and a blush spread through her face. She didn't know what she was feeling but it was a comfortable feeling that made her feel that she would be safe with Naruto. Ino didn't know what this feeling was but she would find out.

* * *

Neji, Shino, Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, Gaara, and lastly Naruto stood in the fighting area of the large stadium that house the Chuunin Exam finals. Naruto was worried about Sasuke not making it in time. The proctor, Genma, had delayed the beginning of the finals a few minutes in order to give Sasuke more time but the Uchiha still hadn't shown up. Genma was currently talking to the Hokage up on a balcony that overlooked the entire fight area. The proctor went back to the fight area and cleared his throat.

"We will move on to the first fight." Genma said in a loud voice, "Everyone but Neji Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki leave at once."

The genin left the fight area leaving only a confident Naruto and a smug Neji. The Hyuuga looked at Naruto with a look of disgust. The blond had only one the first round due to a vulgar action. It was fated for Naruto to lose.

"Why don't you give up right now?" Neji asked with a frown, "People like you are fated to lose against me."

Naruto grinned. "I'm not going to lose to you. I have a dream to accomplish and I'm not going to let you slow me down." Naruto slipped into his toad taijutsu style and smirked, "I'm going to teach you that fate can be a bitch."

"The Chuunin Exams Finals begin now. Are you two ready?" Genma asked. Receiving a nod from the two genin Genma grinned, "Begin!"

**Ch. 5 End**

**Sorry I left a cliffhanger of sorts but I promise that the next chapter will come a lot sooner. It took me a while to get this chapter done since I kept making changes to it. I hope it came out okay and thank you for reading.**


	6. The Finals Begin

**Today I bring you a quick update. Thanks for the reviews and for reading the story, I really appreciate it. The updates after the next one might take a while since I'll be busy with work and school, so I apologize in advance. **

**Now to answer a question I received; the Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball is not Fuuton Rasengan. It is a similar attack but the main difference is that the spiraling wind ball is only made up of compressed wind chakra while the fuuton rasengan is made up of compressed chakra and wind. Another difference is that the spiraling wind ball disperses when making contact while the fuuton rasengan drills into the opponent until causing an explosion. Sorry for the confusion.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 6 The Finals Begin**

Naruto ran at Neji with his confident smirk never leaving his face. The blond threw a punch that was easily blocked by the Hyuuga, who countered with a punch of his own. Naruto blocked the punch and threw another. The two engaged in a fury of punches and kicks. The two were even with each blocking every single strike. Most of the crowd was impressed with the blond since he was trading blows with a Hyuuga on equal level.

Neji frowned. _'How is he able to match me in taijutsu? It is my fate to win, not his!' _The Hyuuga thought as he and Naruto threw punches. The blond threw a clumsy kick and Neji smirked. This was the opening he was waiting for. Neji threw an open palm at Naruto but his eyes widened when he saw a smirk on Naruto's face. The blond crouched under the kick before jumping slightly and delivering a head butt to Neji's jaw.

The Hyuuga was knocked away and Naruto followed his attack with a punch that made contact with Neji's stomach. Neji was pushed away but managed to strike Naruto's left shoulder. The Hyuuga jumped away from the blond and glared. He couldn't believe that a no-name was able to match him in taijutsu. Naruto's style wasn't better, it was just too random to counter. The blond would move around with a slight hop on his step and would use random attacks, like the head butt.

Naruto smirked. "I thought you were stronger than that." He declared, "Beating you will be a walk on the park."

"Fool," Neji said with a glare, "I was the victor on our exchange of taijutsu. Just look at your hands."

The blond looked at his hands in confusion and saw small cuts all around them. "W-what the hell?"

"We Hyuugas are able to use chakra with each strike," Neji said, "We can also strike chakra points with the help of our Byakuugan."

"So what?" Naruto exclaimed with a frown, "That doesn't mean that you'll win!"

"We shall see about that," Neji said with a frown, "Byakuugan!" Veins appeared around Neji's eye and his pupil became barely visible.

Naruto ran at Neji again and threw a punch that was easily blocked. The blond hopped to his right and threw another punch but it was knocked away. Neji smirked and struck Naruto on the chest with great force. Naruto sailed through the air before falling on the ground with a hard thud.

"Now you see that it is impossible for you to win," Neji said, "Fate has declared me the winner and no amount of determination will change that."

Naruto spit out blood and slowly stood up while clutching his chest. "You got one lucky punch on me," he said with a growl, "I'll beat some sense into you and show you that fate can be changed!"

"You're a fool Uzumaki," Neji said with a frown.

"And damned proud of it!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran at Neji. The blond threw a punch but it was easily blocked. Naruto didn't let up and threw punch after punch. Neji gritted his teeth, the blond was awfully close to breaking through his defenses. He had to do something.

"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Neji yelled. Naruto's eyes widened as Neji started to spin and release chakra. Before Naruto knew what happened, he was struck almost everywhere on his body and was knocked away from Neji. The blond landed on the ground and gritted his teeth in pain.

"D-damn," Naruto gasped out as he tried to stand.

"You are finished," Neji said, "Give up now."

Naruto smirked and stood up. "I still have a lot under my sleeve." The blond spit out some blood before glaring at Neji, "This match just started. There's no way I'm giving up!"

Neji deactivated his Byakuugan and smirked, "I'll show you that fate is on my side. I won't use my Byakuugan to fight you and I'll still be victorious."

"I'll prove you wrong," Naruto said with a frown.

* * *

Ino watched Naruto's match from the stands. She was sitting next to Sakura and Choji. In front of her sat Tenten, who had said that Naruto wouldn't be able to beat Neji. Ino had defended her friend, much to the surprise of Sakura, and had told them that Naruto would win. Choji had agreed with her while Sakura thought that Naruto didn't stand a chance. Ino was dressed on her ninja outfit since she told Naruto that she would show him how much she had imrpoved after his matches were over.

Ino had a worried look on her face. Naruto was getting pretty hurt while Neji had only been hit twice. She still thought that Naruto could win but made a mental note to scold him for getting hurt. The kunoichi didn't like to see people hurt, which is why she mostly uses her mind attacks to restrict people. For some reason seeing Naruto hurt made her heart wrench. She wanted to keep him safe and hated to see him bloodied and bruised. Ino guessed that she felt this way since he was her friend and hoped that the match would end soon.

"I told you that he was no match for Neji," Tenten started, "He's a Hyuuga prodigy and is fighting a nobody. It's no surprise that the blond is getting beaten."

Ino fumed. "Naruto is going to win!" She exclaimed, "He said that he would and he never goes back on his word."

"Ino's right," Choji said with a grin, "Naruto's been training hard with our team. There's no way he'll lose."

"Naruto's been training with you?" Sakura asked in confusion.

Choji nodded. "He trained like crazy," he said, "I don't see him losing after everything he did."

Ino nodded with a smile. "There's no way he's losing." Ino looked at Naruto and grinned, "I know it."

* * *

"Wind Style!" Naruto yelled as he ran through hand signs, "Devastation." Naruto put his left hand on his mouth and blew into it, creating a powerful gust of wind, blowing away dirt and rubble from the ground.

The attack hit Neji with full force and knocked him against the wall. The Hyuuga spit out blood and fell on the floor, gasping for air. He stood up slowly only to see two clones running at him. Neji dodged their attacks and hit them on the chest, immediately dispelling them, before catching his breath.

Naruto stood in front of Neji with a small smirk. "How was that?" He taunted, "Did your precious bloodline see that coming?"

"That attack hit me because of my own mistakes, do not think that it will happen again," Neji said as he got into his fighting stance.

"We'll see about that," Naruto said with a smirk before throwing a few kunai at Neji.

The Hyuuga used his own kunai to block Naruto's before charging at him. Neji felt heavier as he ran but dismissed it for the moment. He threw a palm at Naruto but the blond jumped away and threw a horde of shurinken. Neji blocked them with a single kunai and jumped after Naruto.

Neji felt as if he was running slower but focused on his fight. He jumped at Naruto with an open palm that made contact with his chest. Neji smirked when he saw Naruto land painfully on the ground. He had hit a major chakra point and he didn't think that the blond would be getting up from it. He had been right, the Byakuugan wasn't needed on this fight.

Neji's eyes widened when he saw 'Naruto' poof into a cloud of smoke. _'It was a clone?' _He activated his byakuugan and gasped. The ground was filled with hundreds of different chakra signatures, all belonging to Naruto.

"Surprise!" Naruto yelled as he and hundreds of clones shot off of the ground, "Let's go!"

Neji gritted his teeth when he saw all of the clones charging at him. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" The clones were dispelled but their sheer number pushed against Neji's dome. The Hyuuga feared that they would get past his ultimate defense when he saw more and more clones charging at him.

* * *

The Hokage smiled. Naruto had improved a lot. The blond had formulated a great plan and executed it perfectly. Naruto was learning how to be a great ninja and the Third had no doubt that the blond would get far.

"Impressive boy," the Kazekage commented, "He's full of surprises."

"Indeed he is," the Hokage said, "He'll grow into a powerful ninja."

* * *

"Way to go Naruto!" Ino cheered with a smile, "Kick Neji's ass!" She got a few odd looks from the people around her and blushed in embarrassment.

"Calm down Ino," Sakura said with an odd look.

* * *

Neji panted as he kept performing his attack. The Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation took a considerable amount of chakra to perform. His reserves were going down and the dome would come down any second. He was sure that the blond's reserves were going down also since nobody should be able to keep using shadow clones like he was doing.

Naruto watched his clones attack the dome and summoned another ten, ordering them to attack. His chakra was going down but it was to be expected since it was part of his plan. All he had to do was wait for Neji's attack to go down and perform the last part of his plan. Naruto grinned when he saw the dome waver slightly, _'It's almost time.'_

Neji's attack was finally stopped and a swarm of clones jumped at him. "Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" Neji began to attack all the clones with strikes that were barely visible. The Hyuuga defeated all of the clones and glared at Naruto, "I am done with this, I will finish you right now."

"Let's see you try," Naruto said with a smirk.

The two ninja ran at each other. Naruto threw a punch but it was easily blocked by Neji. The Hyuuga countered with an open palm but Naruto leapt away. The blond threw a couple of kunai at Neji, who simply jumped away, before running through hand signs.

"Wind Style: Devastation," a powerful gust of wind came out of Naruto's mouth. The wind knocked Neji against a tree before Naruto grinned, "I got you!"

Neji looked up to see a swarm of kunai coming his way. He quickly blocked them with his own before running at the Naruto clones. He stroke one of the chest before dodging a punch. Neji hit another clone on the face and another on the stomach. The Hyuuga dodged a kick and countered with an open palm.

* * *

Ino bit her lip as she witnessed the fight. Naruto's clones weren't hurting Neji, they were pretty much useless against him. She had no idea why Naruto would keep wasting chakra with clones but knew that he must have a plan, _'You can do this Naruto!'_

Tenten smirked as she watched clone after clone disappear at the hand of Neji. There was no way that her teammate would lose. He was a prodigy and the strongest genin. She felt sorry for the blond, he was putting a lot into the match but his attacks only stalled Neji instead of hurting him.

* * *

Neji panted once he finished the last clone. They were way too annoying and no match for him, no matter how many were used. He ran at the real Naruto, "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" Naruto could do nothing as each strike hit home. Neji smirked, losing his Hyuuga coolness, as the attacks hit the helpless blond. His attack finally ended and the blond fell on the ground with a thud.

"This match is over," Neji said with his cool and collected attitude back, "Fate can never be changed."

The ground started to shake and 'Naruto' disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Neji's eyes widened when two Naruto's shot off the ground. Naruto blew into his hand and formed a ball while the other clone took hold of Naruto's free arm. The clone flung Naruto at Neji, "This is it!" The blond yelled as he approached Neji and extended his arm, "Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!"

The attack hit Neji on the chest and the Hyuuga was thrown away from Naruto. Neji hit the wall with a cry and lost consciousness. Naruto panted as he watched Neji's unconscious figure. The blond broke into a grin and threw an arm on the air with a laugh.

"Winner, Naruto Uzumaki," Genma declared as a couple of medic ninja took Neji away.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered as he left the fight area. The crowd cheered for the good fight and Naruto waved at the crowd.

* * *

"He did it!" Ino cheered with a smile.

"Way to go Naruto!" Choji cheered.

"I can't believe it," Tenten said with a look of disbelief, "How did Neji lose?"

* * *

"That was a good plan Naruto," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

Naruto grinned while Shino raised a brown. "What plan are you talking about?" The bug user asked.

"Naruto hid some clones around the fight area that would throw weaker versions of Wind Style: Devastation," Shikamaru explained, "Since the attacks were weak Neji didn't notice them but they were hitting him constantly. That's why Neji was slower than Naruto whenever they ran."

"I see," Shino said with a nod, "That really was a good plan."

"Attention," Genma started, "Because Sasuke Uchiha hasn't shown up we will continue with the other matches."

Shikamaru groaned, _'Man, that means that my match will be moved up. My match hasn't even started but it's already a pain in the ass.' _

"I need Shino and Kankuro to come down," Genma said. Shino prepared to go down while Kankuro stayed still.

"I forfeit!" Kankuro declared. The crowd booed the sand ninja.

Temari smirked and jumped down to the fight area. She held out her fan and looked at the proctor.

"What's up with you?" Genma asked.

"It's my turn now isn't it?" Temari said while looking at Shikamaru.

Genma shook his head, genin were always full of themselves. "Shikamaru come on down."

'_This is complete crap,' _Shikamaru thought as he leaned on the railing, _'Why do I have to fight? Maybe I should just forfeit like that Kankuro guy?'_

Naruto saw the lazy look on Shikamaru's face and grinned. He went behind the lazy genius and pushed him off the railing, "Get out there Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru landed on his back and groaned, _'Why does Naruto have to be so damn troublesome? I'd rather stare at the clouds than fight some girl.'_

Temari glared at Shikamaru. The lazy idiot was just lying there and didn't appear to be interested in fighting her. The crowed started to boo Shikamaru while he just ignored everyone. Genma just sighed and shook his head, he couldn't believe Shikamaru's laziness.

"That's it!" Temari exclaimed with a frown, "If you're not attacking then I am!" With that, Temari held up her fan and ran at Shikamaru.

'_Man,' _Shikamaru thought, _'I knew blonds were troublesome the minute I met Naruto and Ino. I don't feel like doing anything but I also don't feel like losing to a girl.'_

Temari brought her fan down on Shikamaru but gasped when she saw that he wasn't there anymore. She looked around and found him leaning against a tree with his hands on his pockets.

"If you're so hyped about fighting me then let's get to it." Shikamaru said. He took out some kunai and threw them at the girl.

Temari used her fan to blow the kunai away but frowned when she saw that Shikamaru had disappeared again. "Where the hell is he?" She muttered to herself.

* * *

Asuma watched his student with a smirk. Kurenai was sitting next to him and she had a look of worry on her face. While Asuma trusted in his student's abilities, Kurenai didn't know what to think of the lazy genius. She had heard that Shikamaru was lazy but she never expected him to act like that in the middle of a match.

"Don't worry Kurenai," Asuma said, "Shikamaru might not look it but he's a genius."

Kurenai gave a confused look. "But I saw his test scores and they were almost as bad as Naruto's."

Asuma shook his head. "Don't let those two fool you," he stared at his student with a smirk, "Shikamaru and Naruto are a lot smarter than they let on. Shikamaru didn't do well on his tests because he thought it was too troublesome to pick up his pencil to write; while Naruto cared more about being the center of attention than some test."

"Naruto just started to take his training seriously," Asuma continued, "He's been training with my team and his motivation made my students take their training seriously also. Choji was there from time to time but he had to return to the hospital after a few hours."

Kurenai looked at Shikamaru in a new light. "I see."

"Shikamaru treats his matches like a shogi game," Asuma explained, "He uses many different strategies to put his opponent in a possession where giving up is the only way out. I've never been able to beat him in a game of shogi and I know that he will win this using only his mind."

* * *

Shikamaru was resting against a tree that was near the wall of the fight area. The place was shadowed so he would be able to have some peace. He thought of ways of defeating the blonde but groaned when he heard her swinging her fan around. That girl was way too troublesome.

"I might as well get this over with," Shikamaru said to himself.

"Damn him," Temari muttered as she swung her fan. She had been using wind jutsu around the fight area in order to get Shikamaru out of his hiding place. The kunoichi was about to swing her fan again but stopped when she saw a shadow approaching her. She jumped away and found Shikamaru standing on the shadows.

"So you finally decided to come out?" Temari said while noticing that the shadow could not reach her past ten meters.

Shikamaru sighed. "It's a real pain in the ass but I'll fight seriously." The teen threw two kunai at the girl who easily blew them away.

Temari watched Shikamaru in confusion. Surely his plan wasn't throwing kunai around, even someone like him should have a kind of plan. She swung her fan, creating a huge gust of wind that knocked Shikamaru back a couple of feet. Temari prepared to attack again but jumped away when she saw a shadow coming towards her. The shadow passed its ten meter limit and chased after her.

She looked up and saw that Shikamaru had used a kunai as a parachute in order to create more shadows for him to use. She leapt away until the shadow finally stopped. Temari sighed in relief and prepared to use her fan but noticed that she couldn't move.

"What's going on?" She asked herself in panic.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Just look at where you are."

Temari looked around and noticed that she was in between two trees. Her eyes widened when she remembered that Shikamaru had been at the same place when he started the match. She looked at her arms and saw that they were wrapped in a strong wire, "H-how did you?"

"I wasn't just looking at clouds when I was lying there," Shikamaru explained, "I was thinking of a way to beat you without too much trouble. When you ran at me and I leapt away, I threw a couple of kunai with ninja wire at those two trees."

"But there's more than two wires," Temari argued.

"Yes but as the match progressed I put more wire," Shikamaru said as he pointed at the wire that were wrapped around her legs, "All those kunai that I threw and my shadow possession jutsu were just decoys while I set up the real trap."

"Why… you?" Temari said through gritted teeth as Shikamaru walked towards her with a kunai on hand.

"Now," the teen said with a smirk as he put the kunai on Temari's throat, "Check mate."

Genma grinned in approval. "Winner is Shikamaru Nara."

The crowd cheered while Shikamaru calmly made his way back to the small balcony where the participants waited their turn. He had thought of giving up but decided against it when he remembered all the training his team and Naruto went through. Naruto had made him take his training a little more seriously but it was still too troublesome and not to mention that since Ino started to train harder she had forced him to put more effort into it. Those annoying blonds would be the death of him.

* * *

"Way to go Shikamaru!" Ino cheered with a smile.

Choji couldn't believe his eyes. His teammate had actually done a considerable amount of work and didn't give up. Choji honestly thought that Shikamaru would end up giving up or just pretending to be unconscious but he had won.

"That was a great match," Sakura said with a smile.

Choji nodded, "I didn't think that Shikamaru would actually win. I thought that he would've ended up giving up or something."

Ino smiled, "Yeah but I think he's starting to be more serious about being a ninja."

"Anyway," Sakura interrupted, "Sasuke's match is up next!"

"Everyone is waiting for that match," Choji said, "I hope it's as good as everyone is making it out to be."

"Yeah," Ino agreed with a thoughtful look, "I wonder if it'll be as good as Naruto's."

Sakura frowned. "Of course it'll be better than stupid Naruto's," she said, "Sasuke is a lot stronger than Naruto and he'll wipe the floor with that Gaara guy."

"Watch it Forehead," Ino said with scowl, "Just because Naruto isn't here doesn't mean that you can talk down on him."

"What did you call me Ino-pig?" Sakura said with a glare.

The air grew tense and Choji was stuck in the middle. He knew how close Ino and Naruto had gotten and knew that it was a bad move to talk bad about him in front of her. For some reason, Ino had grown protective of Naruto and she was downright scary when someone talked badly of him.

'_I really wish I wasn't here right now,' _Choji thought as the two girls continued to glare at each other.

* * *

"That was great Shikamaru," Naruto said with a grin once Shikamaru went back to the balcony.

Shikamaru sighed and leaned on the railing. "I should've forfeited the match, it would've been less troublesome that way."

Naruto chuckled. "But if you forfeited then you would've been chewed out by Ino."

"You're right," Shikamaru said with a nod, "Nothing is more troublesome than dealing with an angry female."

"Attention," Genma announced, "We will give Sasuke Uchiha a total of five minutes to arrive. If he doesn't then he will be disqualified."

"Do you think he'll show up?" Shikamaru asked.

"Perhaps it was wise of him to not have shown up," Shino said in an emotionless voice.

Naruto shook his head. "He'll be here," He said, "He's not the kind of person to run away from a challenge."

* * *

"What is Sasuke doing? Why is he taking so long?" Choji asked with a frown.

"He'll get here," Sakura said with a sad expression, "He has to."

"You idiot," Ino whispered to Choji, "Can't you see she's all gloomy? You don't have to make her even sadder by stating the obvious!"

"Where is Sasuke?" Asked Lee who had just arrived, along with Gai, on a pair of crutches.

"Lee!" Sakura and Ino greeted with smiles.

"Sasuke hasn't arrived yet," Choji said.

"I see," Lee said with a serious look, "I was hoping to see how much he has improved."

"Don't worry Lee," Sakura said with a smile, "Sasuke will come."

"Did you see Naruto's match?" Ino asked with an exited smile. Lee shook his head, "You should've seen it! He completely wiped the floor with that guy!"

Choji sweat dropped. _'It was actually a close match but I shouldn't say anything. I don't want Ino mad at me,'_ Choji thought as he dug into his last bag of chips.

* * *

"The five minutes have passed," Genma announced, "Sasuke Uchiha is disqual-"

Genma was interrupted by a whirlwind next to him. When the whirlwind died down Kakashi and Sasuke could be seen. Sasuke wore a black version of his normal clothes while Kakashi had a hand on his book and the other on his pocket.

"Hey there," Kakashi said, "I hope we're not too late."

"You're just in time," Genma said.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto yelled from the balcony. The blond grinned, "Nice to see you made it."

Sasuke smirked. "I wouldn't have missed this for the world," he said back, "Did you win your match?"

"Of course!" Naruto said with a smile, "You better win yours so I can kick your ass later."

Sasuke smirked and turned to Gaara. The sand ninja looked at Sasuke with no emotion on his eyes before jumping down to the fight area.

"This will be a hard fight," Naruto said to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru frowned. "You want to tell me what's going on." Naruto looked surprised and Shikamaru continued, "You're always wary of that guy ever since the hospital incident. I know I'll regret this later but tell me what's up with that guy."

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Gaara wasn't lying." Naruto said. Shikamaru gave him an odd look and Naruto turned his gaze towards Gaara, "He really does have a demon sealed inside of him."

"W-what?" Shikamaru asked in shock, "How do you even know he wasn't just bluffing?"

Naruto turned his gaze to the ground and frowned. He couldn't just tell people that he knew Gaara had a demon inside of him because he had one also. The blond contemplated the idea of telling Shikamaru the truth. But, could he do it? Would Naruto be able to share his deepest secret and risk losing a friend?

**Ch. 6 End**

**That's the chapter guys. Sorry if you thought the fight wasn't very good but I tried hard and would appreciate if you guys wouldn't call me out on it. Well, that's pretty much everything I have to say so thanks for reading.**


	7. New Mission! Naruto's in Charge

**I decided to fix this chapter since I didn't do very good on it. Sorry that it had a lot of mistakes and seemed rushed but please understand that it's difficult for me to catch every single mistake since I update two to three times a week. Thank you all for continuing reading this story and I'll make sure to bring better chapters a lot sooner. Next chapter should be up by the end of tomorrow. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch.7 New Mission! Naruto's in Charge!**

Naruto was not an emotionally stable person, the mask he wore around people was proof enough of that. Growing up alone and being ignored by everyone made Naruto cherish whatever kind of relationship he could have with other people. He didn't care if people thought of him as an idiot, as long as his existence was acknowledged Naruto didn't care about looking bad. It was no surprise that the blond panicked when Shikamaru asked how he was so sure of Gaara having a demon inside of him.

Shikamaru watched Naruto with a questioning look. The blond seemed to be having an internal battle. He guessed that this was a sensitive subject for Naruto but he didn't know why. Shikamaru had always been an observant person and had been able to notice the way people looked at Naruto. Every time they would look at him with cold eyes, Naruto would get a sad look on his eyes. The genius noticed that Naruto had that same sad look at the moment. Putting two and two together, Shikamaru immediatly knew that the looks people gave him had something to do with what Gaara had said on the hospital.

"How do you he has a demon inside of him Naruto?" Shikamaru asked once again.

Naruto clenched his left fist before relaxing it. "Just a feeling I have!" He exclaimed with a smile plastered on his face.

Shikamaru was about to call him a liar but saw the look on Naruto's eye, a look of pain and desperation. "Fine," he said with a sigh, "What do you plan on doing about Gaara?"

"I'm not sure," Naruto admitted, "We should see how Sasuke does against him and if things look bad I'll enter the fight."

"You'll be disqualified if you interrupt a fight," Shikamaru said with a frown.

Naruto smiled. "I know," he glanced at Sasuke and Gaara with a smirk, "But I really want to fight Sasuke so I can't let him get killed."

"Man," Shikamaru said with a sigh, "I guess I'll help if the situation comes."

"You should also watch your backs," Shino said from behind Naruto.

Naruto jumped away with a yelp. "What the hell Shino! Don't just appear behind people's backs!" He exclaimed with an angry look.

"What did you mean Shino?" Shikamaru asked with a frown, whatever it was Shikamaru knew that it would be a pain in the ass.

"I overheard the sand shinobi talking about a plan," Shino said, "I'm not sure what that plan is but my bugs have detected small spikes of chakra throughout the village's outskirts that disappear before being traced. This means that whatever their planning is big."

"Just what I needed," Shikamaru said with a groan, "I should've never gotten out of bed."

"Do you think we should tell the Hokage?" Naruto asked in a serious tone.

Shino shook his head. "I'm not really sure," he explained, "I noticed that there are several Anbu around the crowd so he probably already knows."

"I still have to tell him," Naruto said, "Even if he already knows. I'll feel better if I know for sure."

"Alright," Shino said with a nod, "You're right, it's best to make sure that the Hokage is aware of the situation."

Naruto smiled. "I'll go see him right now," the blond said, "You guys stick close to the sand ninja in case they try anything."

"What about Gaara?" Shikamaru asked.

"Let Sasuke fight him for a while," Naruto said before grinning, "He's more than capable of holding him back."

* * *

Sasuke stared at Gaara with a frown. Kakashi had helped him increase his speed and master Lee's taijutsu style. The jonin had even taught him a move that would be of great help against the sand ninja. Not to mention the aid his sharingan would give him on the fight. The Uchiha knew that he would win and smirked.

"Are you two ready?" Genma asked, receiving nods from the two genin, "Okay then, begin!"

Sharingan coming to life, Sasuke ran at Gaara in an inhuman speed. Gaara simply stood where he was and calmly unleashed his sand. Sasuke faked a punch, making Gaara use his sand to cover, and smirked. The Uchiha disappeared from sight, in an amazing show of speed, and appeared behind Gaara.

The sand ninja used his sand to strike Sasuke but the sharingan saw the move coming. Sasuke leaned to the right, dodging the sand, and threw a punch that made contact with Gaara's jaw. The redhead sailed through the air before falling on the ground with a painful thud. Gaara stood up and glared at Sasuke.

"What's wrong? Is that all you got?" Sasuke asked with a smirk, "You're no match for me."

"I'll kill you," Gaara hissed.

"Let's see if it's not the other way around," Sasuke said as he ran at Gaara.

Gaara tried to hit Sasuke with sand but found that the Uchiha was too fast, much like Lee. Sasuke watched the sand chasing him and smirked. He ran around Gaara before running directly at him. Gaara's eyes widened as Sasuke's foot made contact with his jaw. The sand ninja sailed through the air before meeting ground once again.

"I have to finish this now," Sasuke said through pants. In order to move so fast, Sasuke needed to constantly enhance his leg muscles with chakra. This meant that he was limited to only using taijutsu while on that speed.

Gaara's sand enveloped the redhead and created a dome around him. Sasuke threw kunais at it but watched as they bounced off of it. Like he guessed, the density of the sand made it as strong as steel. The only way he could end the match would be to use the new jutsu Kakashi had taught him.

Sasuke ran to the top of the arena's wall and gathered his chakra into his left hand. He gave a quick glance at Gaara and saw what appeared to be an eyeball forming on top of the sand dome. Sasuke didn't know what his opponent was doing but whatever Gaara was planning had to be stoppedt. Sasuke got the feeling that it would be a strong jutsu so it was better to stop it before it was performed. Sasuke was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of chirping birds and smirked, the match would be over soon.

* * *

"Don't tell me you taught him that jutsu!" Gai exclaimed in shock as he turned his gaze to the masked jonin standing next to him. Kakashi had met with them after dropping Sasuke off in the fight area.

"That's the reason why I wanted him as my student," Kakashi said, "He's much like me apart from the sharingan."

"But to teach him that move!" Gai said with a frown.

"He knows the restrictions of that move, he can handle it," Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

* * *

'_It's ready,' _Sasuke thought with a smirk.

Sasuke ran at Gaara with a yell. His attack would be able to get through the sand, there was no doubt. Sand shot out of the dome but the sharingan saw each move. Sasuke leaned to the left to dodge an oncoming shot of sand before spinning to the right to avoid a large wave of sand. The sand went back to Gaara but it would be a few seconds before it could strike again, more than enough time for Sasuke.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled as the attack pierced through the dome.

'_What is this?' _Gaara thought from inside of the dome with a hand inside of his left shoulder. '_What is this feeling mother? It feels wet and hot, what is it?'_

A single droplet was heard and Gaara's eyes widened. "It's blood," he whispered, "Blood! MY BLOOD!"

Gaara's scream was heard throughout the arena, scaring most of the crowd and even a few ninja. The dome of sand fell apart and Gaara clutched his head in pain. The Uchiha knew that something was off by the look on Gaara's eyes but knew that he would still win the match.

* * *

Naruto ran through the hallways of the arena. He had to let the Hokage know that the sand nija were planning to do something. The blond refused to let any outsiders endanger the life of his friends. He exited the hallway and found himself only a few steps away from the Hokage's balcony. Naruto heard a scream and looked at the fight area where Gaara was seen clutching his head. The blond knew that this wouldn't be the end of Gaara, someone like him wouldn't go out so easily. Sasuke had done a good job, regardless, and he would jump in to help once he spoke to the Hokage.

'_I knew you could do it Sasuke, just hang on,' _Naruto thought as he ran to the Hokage's balcony but noticed that there were feathers floating around him, _'What is this?' _

* * *

"Gaara is hurt," Temari said with a look of disbelief. She noticed that many people were put to sleep and gave a nod to her brother, "It's started. We have to get Gaara to his position."

Kankuro nodded. "You're right," he said, "It would be bad to have him transform here."

The two prepared to jump down to the fight area to get Gaara but found that they were unable to move.

"Shadow possession success," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

The two siblings growled at the shadow user. Before they could say anything, the two were knocked out by Shino. The bug user had devised a plan in case the two sand siblings made a move and it had gone perfectly.

The two genin saw many ninja jump out of the stands and attack the leaf ninja. Soon, battles broke out all throughout the stands. The enemy ninja wore sand and sound headbands, meaning that it had been worse than what Shino had thought.

"Looks like I was right," Shino said, "Hopefully Naruto made it to the Hokage."

"Don't worry about him," Shikamaru said with a smirk, "He'll make it there. What we have to worry about is what our next move will be."

"We should just attack the enemy ninja," Shino said, "It's not subtle but it's the only thing we can do at this point."

Shikamaru shook his head. "We have to plan our next move, it won't be smart to just charge in," he explained, "They must have an ace in the hole. I don't think that they just planned on attacking head on, frontal attacks are always used as distractions. All we have to do is find their secret weapon and take it down."

"What is that secret weapon?" Shino asked.

Shikamaru glanced at Gaara, "I think I know what it is."

* * *

Gaara clutched his head in pain. His mother was angry at him for not doing a good job on killing the Uchiha. Her screams were loud and Gaara's tried to reason with her but to no avail. Only killing the Uchiha would make her stop screaming at him.

"Calm down Gaara!" Baki yelled as he appeared next to Gaara, "You have to follow the mission!"

"Nobody will leave this spot," Genma said with a frown.

"Damn," Baki growled, "Gaara I want you to leave while I take care of this man."

"Sasuke," Genma said with a serious look, "I want you to make Gaara leave the village. I have a feeling that they want to use him for something big."

"What about my match?" Sasuke asked with a scowl.

"The exams are canceled," Genma answered, "Your village needs you now, so go!"

Sasuke growled but nodded. "Hey Gaara!" The Uchiha called out, "Let's finish our match somewhere else."

Gaara hissed as he watched Sasuke leave the arena. He couldn't leave. His mother wanted the Uchiha's blood and she would have it. Gaara would make sure of that. If he killed the Uchiha then his mother wouldn't be angry at him anymore and she would stop hurting him. His existence would be proven with the death of the Uchiha.

"Get back here!" Gaara yelled as he ran after Sasuke.

* * *

Ino felt tired and didn't know why. She had been watching Sasuke's match and it had been interesting. It wasn't as good as Naruto's in her opinion but it was a good match nonetheless. Her eyelids felt heavy and she made a note that maybe she was training too hard. She felt a hand on her shoulder and her eyes snapped opened.

"You're on a genjutsu," Kakashi said with his hand on her shoulder. He took it off and placed a hand on Choji, "Release."

"W-what?" Choji muttered as he woke up.

"Listen up you two," Kakashi said getting the attention of the two genin, "Choji I want you to stay here and keep the villagers safe."

"W-what are you talking about?" Ino asked in slight fear.

"There's a battle going on," Kakashi explained. Ino and Choji looked around and noticed several ninja fighting with ninjas from the sand and sound villages, "Ino I want you to find Naruto and tell him to go help Sasuke out."

"Right," Ino said with a nod.

Kakashi ran through hand signs and slammed his hands onto an unconscious man's back. "Summoning Jutsu," a small white dog with a Konoha headband as a collar appeared, "I want you to look for a scent of sand moving away from the village."

"Got it," the dog said with a nod.

"Ino I want you to tell Naruto to follow this dog," Kakashi instructed, "It will take him to where Sasuke is. Go now."

"I'll find Naruto," Ino said with a nod as she and the dog left.

* * *

"Shikamaru!" Sakura exclaimed when she entered the participant's balcony.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked before turning to the small dog next to Sakura, "Who's dog is that?"

"I'm not just a dog. My name is Pakkun and I am a ninja dog," the dog said.

"There's no time for introductions," Sakura said in slight panic, "Kakashi-sensei told me get you guys to go after Sasuke so you can help him out."

"How do we find them?" Shino asked.

"Leave that to me," Pakkun said with pride, "I have his scent so just follow me."

"Let's go," Shino said. Pakkun, Shino and Sakura leapt out of the arena while Shikamaru groaned.

"Man," Shikamaru said with a groan, "What did I do to deserve this?" The teen thought of just staying there but knew that the village needed his help. With a sigh, Shikamaru leapt out of the arena and followed after his comrades.

* * *

Naruto felt a burning sensation on his left wrist. He lifted his left glove to see a small seal flashing red before returning to its normal black color. The blond quickly spiked his chakra and watched as the feathers around him disappeared.

"I guess I have to thank Jiraiya-sensei for putting that seal on me," Naruto muttered to himself with a small grin. He heard an explosion and saw that it came from the roof of the Hokage's balcony. The blond's eyes widened and he clenched his fists. The Third was once of his precious people and the person that kept the village from falling apart, he wouldn't let anybody hurt him.

He saw a group of ANBU jumping towards the Hokage. Four fake ANBU attacked the group but a single one with a white cloak charged at them. Naruto watched in awe as the single ANBU defeatedthe four enemy ninja, disguised as ANBU, in just a few moves. The smoke coming from the explosion engulfed everything around it, but Naruto saw the outline of a person jump out of one of the corpses. Naruto gasped when he saw that the figure was jumping towards where the Hokage was. Naruto gritted his teeth when he saw that shadows leapt out of the other bodies with the same destination, the Hokage. The blond quickly formulated a plan and summoned a single clone.

"Throw me up there as hard as you can!" Naruto ordered. The clone complied and flung the blond towards one of the jumping figures.

Naruto sailed through the air and made out one of the figures. It was an overweight ninja with an orange mowhawk, wearing an outfit similar to Orochimaru's. The blond was heading straight at him and readied his right fist.

Before the sound ninja that was headed towards the Hokage could register what happened, he felt something hard connect with his gut. His eye's widened and all air left his body. He tried to see what had hit him but received a kick on the head that slammed him towards the ground. The sound ninja landed on the fight area of the arena with a loud thud.

_'Got him,' _Naruto thought with a grin before following after the ninja.

"Now, tell me what you want with the Hokage!" Naruto exclaimed in anger.

The ninja stood up slowly and glared at the blond. "Are you the one who attacked me?"

"And I'm the one who will kill you if you don't tell me what I want to know," Naruto said with a frown, "I don't know what you guys are plannint to do, but if you threaten those precious to me. Then I'll have to kick your ass!"

"I don't care about who's important to you. I will kill you for ruining our plans," the sound ninja said, "My name is Jirobo and I'm the one who will kill you."

Naruto smirked. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future hokage of the Leaf Village."

* * *

Sasuke panted as he ran through the woods outside of Konoha. He was eager to fight Gaara but knew that fighting him near the village would only get him distracted. It would only be him against Gaara, the perfect way to end his match with the sand ninja. His training with Kakashi had made him a new person and Gaara would pose no threat to him.

Sasuke landed on a large clearing and smirked at Gaara, who landed in front of him. "We will settle our match here Gaara."

"I will kill you," Gaara said with a psychotic glare.

"You're no match for an Uchiha," Sasuke said as his sharingan came to life.

* * *

Orochimaru growled as he stood in front of his old sensei. The blond brat had put a major damper on his plans. The snake sannin had planned this attack in order to get closer to Sasuke and deal a harsh blow on his home village. He had been looking forward to killing the Hokage but now he was forced to leave before things got too heated. He watched the fights going on around the arena and smirked when he saw several sand ninja being killed. He couldn't believe how naive their village was, it only took him a few pretty words to get them riled up for the attack. His eyes narrowed when he saw Jirobo, the snake sannin would make him regret letting his guard down. The snake summoner turned to the three members of the Sound Four, faithfully standing by his side.

"I want you to kill the blond brat," Orochimaru told his ninja, "Leave as soon as you do or if things get too hard."

"Yes sir," the three said before leaving the spot.

"Are you okay Third Hokage?" asked the ANBU with the white cloak in concern, while five more stood in front of Orochimaru with weapons on their hands.

"I'm fine," Sarutobi said, "I want you to find some help for Naruto."

"As you wish sir," the ANBU said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

"My… my, you give me a lot of attention Sarutobi-sensei," Orochimaru said with a chuckle, amused at the ANBU who thought they would kill him.

"You will die here Orochimaru," Sarutobi said with a frown.

"I don't believe I will," Orochimaru said as he turned into a pile of mud before disappearing into the ground.

"Find him quick!" the Third Hokage ordered. Some of the ANBU chased after Orochimaru while most of them stayed with the Hokage.

"We need to take you to a safe place," an ANBU said.

Sarutobi nodded. "Very well, there's not much I can do except be there to guide my people when this is over."

* * *

"Wind Style: Wind Wave!" Naruto yelled as a small wave of wind came out of his hands. The attack his Jirobo dead on but did little to no damage, "Dammit."

Naruto had been fighting Jirobo by keeping a safe distance between the two and using long range attacks. His wind jutsu proved to be no match for Jirobo's large figure and earth jutsu. The sound ninja hadn't been able to land a hit on him, which Naruto was grateful for, since he had seen what Jirobo's punches could do.

"Stop running away you piece of trash!" Jirobo yelled as he threw a large boulder at Naruto.

The blond jumped away but was suddenly struck on the back. He fell on the ground with a painful thud and jumped away quickly when he saw a kind of web shooting towards him. Naruto looked at the newcomers and gritted his teeth. There were now four sound ninja against him.

"You're having trouble with this one fatty?" A kunoichi with red hair asked with a smirk.

"I told you not to call me that Tayuya," Jirobo said with a frown.

"It might not be Jirobo's fault. The kid ruined master Orochimaru's plans and dodged an attack from Kidomaru," said a sound ninja with blue hair, "But dodging an attack from him isn't so hard anyway."

"Watch it Sakon," Kidomaru said with a snarl.

Tayuya smirked, "What are you going to do about it shitstain? You're the weakest from the group next to fatass."

"Wind Style: Devastation!" Naruto blew a powerful gust out of his mouth. The attack hit home but only managed to knock Kidomaru against the wall while everyone else dodged, or in Jirobo's case, planted his feet on the ground.

"You got some nerve shithead," Tayuya said with a hiss.

"We will make sure your death is not pretty," said a head coming out of Sakon's back.

"Let's have some fun with him first Ukon," Sakon said with a twisted smile.

'_Wait, there are only three of them. Where did the other one go?' _Naruto thought while looking around for the fourth member.

"Here I am!" Jirobo yelled from under the ground. The earth beneath Naruto's feet gave out and he received a powerful punch on his jaw.

The blond sailed through the air before crashing into the arena's wall. Naruto fell to the ground and tried to stand but fell back down. His vision was blurry and everything seemed to spin. That Jirobo really packed a punch, he had been smart to stay away from him at first. Jirobo had been enough trouble as it was but with the rest of the Sound Four joining in, things became a lot more difficult.

"You damned piece of trash!" Kidomaru yelled as he stood up. He had a large gash on the left side of his face and what appeared to be a broken nose, "I'll make you pay for catching me off guard!"

Kidomaru ran at him, blinded by rage, while Naruto stood up slowly. "Wind Style," Naruto muttered as he went through four hand signs, "Air Bullets!"

The blond put a hand around his mouth and shot out several balls of air. The attacks struck Kidomaru on the chest and one struck him on the head, knocking him unconscious. Naruto grinned when he saw the ninja go down. The sound ninja had underestimated him and paid for it but he knew that the others wouldn't make the same mistake.

The ground shook beneath Naruto and his eyes widened. _'Forgot about him,' _Naruto thought as he jumped in order to avoid the attack. The blond felt a foot connect with his head and cried in pain as he fell to the ground. He managed to regain his footing and landed safely on the ground, but when he did he was painfully reminded that Jirobo was still fighting. The blond received a punch to the gut that sent him crashing against a tree.

"You're not very good," Sakon said with a chuckle.

"S-shut up," Naruto said while standing up shakily. His head was throbbing and there was a trial of blood covering the right side of his face. The blond took out a single kunai and pointed it at Jirobo.

"What are you going to do with that?" Jirobo asked with a smirk, "You won't even be able to hit me with that little knife.

Naruto threw the kunai at Jirobo but ran through two hand signs and pointed his palm at it. "Wind Style: Gale Palm!" A stream of wind hit the kunai and increased its speed, taking Jirobo by surprise.

Jirobo tried to dodge but the kunai stabbed into his right arm. "Damn you!" He exclaimed in anger, "I will kill you for this."

"You deserved that fatty," Tayuya said with an amused smirk.

Naruto slipped into his taijutsu stance and looked at his opponents. From the way they talked to each other, he assumed that they were stronger than Jirobo. Naruto didn't know how he fared against Jirobo since he had only taken Kidomaru out due to the sound ninja just charging at him. So far the Tayuya girl hadn't done anything but Naruto knew that she was strong since she didn't appear to be intimidated by her teammates.

"Naruto!" the blond heard from the stands. He turned to his right and saw Ino running towards him.

"Looks like we have company," Sakon said with a smirk, "Take care of her Jirobo."

Naruto's eyes widened and he saw Jirobo charge at Ino. The blond immediately ran after him at a speed he didn't know he had. He watched as Jirobo raised his fist and Ino's eyes widened in surprise. The sound ninja brought his fist down but before it could make contact he received a powerful punch on his jaw. Jirobo sailed through the air before crashing against the arena's wall.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked harshly with his hand aching slightly from the punch he delivered.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Ino snapped with a frown.

"You can't be here Ino. You'll get hurt!" Naruto exclaimed in concern.

Ino's eyes softened and she gave a small smile. "I'm a ninja too, Naruto," she said, "I'm able to take care of myself. I've been training hard to do so."

"But I can't let you get hut!" Naruto said with desparation on his eyes.

"Naruto," Ino said with a sad smile, "Remember what you told me when I asked why you trained so hard. You said that you wanted to get stronger so you would be able to help your friends and not be a burden."

"Ino," Naruto said sadly. He knew that Ino felt like a burden and had been working hard in order to be considered important. Right now, he was making her feel like a burden.

"Please Naruto," Ino said in desperation, "Let me help you. I'll show you that I can take care of myself!"

"Fine," Naruto said with a small grin, "I guess three to two are better odds."

"Unfortunately you won't be fighting them," Kakashi said as he jumped in front of them.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"I'll be fighting these three," Kakashi said before turning to Ino, "I believe you had something to do."

"Right," Ino said with a nod, "Naruto we have to go help Sasuke with Gaara."

"Sasuke's is still fighting him?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"He is. That ninja dog will take you to where they are," Kakashi explained, "This is an A-rank mission and you're in charge Naruto. Remember to take care of your comrades and protect the village at all costs."

"I got it Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said before nodding at Ino.

"Let's go," Ino said to the dog. The ninja dog nodded and leapt out of the arena with Naruto and Ino following.

"Now," Kakashi said with an eye-smile as he turned to the three sound ninja, "I'll finish what my student started."

**Ch. 7 End**

**Just to make it clear. I'll go through Naruto's jutsu and abilities once more.**

**Shadow Clone Jutsu**

**Wind Style: Devastation (C-rank)**

**Wind Style: Gale Palm (C-rank)**

**Wind Style: Wind Wave (C-rank)**

**Wind Style: Air Bullets (C-rank)**

**Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball (B-rank)**

**If you didn't catch it while reading. Naruto had received one of Asuma's knives and is able to infuse chakra into them. He's nowhere near Asuma's level of control but he has enough control to be dangerous when fighting.**


	8. Gaara's True Power

**Here's the next chapter guys, hope you like it. I don't have much to say today so let's get on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 8 Gaara's True Power**

"Dammit," Tayuya cursed with a snarl. The one-eyed jonin would be a strong foe. He was Kakashi, a man who was said to have copied over a thousand jutsu. Fighting someone like him would be suicide even if all of the Sound Four fought together.

"We have no choice but to escape," Sakon whispered to his two teammates, "Jirobo, you will carry Kidomaru while I buy us some time."

The big sound ninja nodded in understanding while Sakon got into a fighting stance. If he could get his brother inside of Kakashi then their escape would be successful. He would need a distraction to get close, the jonin wouldn't mind him being close since he doubted that Kakashi knew about his bloodline. Tayuya would be useful in distracting the jonin with her genjutsu but Kakashi's sharingan would see through it. Going into the curse seal level two was out of the question since Orochimaru had forbidden them from using it during the invasion.

"Nice to see that you're communicating with your team," Kakashi said with an eye-smile, "Why don't you stay on the village so you can teach my team a thing or two about teamwork?"

'_Damn! He's just messing with us,' _Sakon thought with a frown. He glanced at his teammates and saw that Jirobo was getting ready to sprint to Kidomaru's fallen form while Tayuya stood near him, _'At least those two are in position.'_

With a nod to his teammates, Sakon charged at Kakashi. The sound ninja tried to punch Kakashi but the jonin dimply leaned to the right. He tried a kick but Kakashi jumped over his leg before delivering a kick of his own. Sakon sailed through the air but managed to regain his balance and landed on the ground safely.

Jirobo slung Kidomaru's unconscious body over his shoulder and gave a firm nod to Tayuya. The kunoichi smirked, they were ready.

Sakon charged at Kakashi once more. The jonin inwardly sighed; the sound ninja didn't know how to control their emotions. They were skilled but letting emotions control their actions was a big disadvantage

The sound shinobi threw a punch that Kakashi caught easily. Sakon smirked before received a backhand to the face. He felt some teeth leave his mouth as he was knocked back by the strong strike. He was finally knocked against the ground but managed to smirk.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed when he saw Sakon smirk. Something was off but the jonin didn't know what. He felt his hand twitch involuntarily before it reached into his kunai holster. The hand pulled out a kunai and put it to his neck.

Sakon chuckled. "I got you," he said with an evil smirk, "My brother and I have a bloodline that lets us go inside other people's bodies and control them."

"Your brother?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

A head came out of Kakashi's shoulder and grinned. "Yes, a brother," Ukon said before running the kunai through Kakashi's neck.

* * *

Gaara's sand shot at Sasuke from all directions. Sasuke used his enhanced speed to dodge the sand. Gaara glared as the sand continued chasing after the Uchiha. His mother would get the blood she wanted. Sasuke could run all he wanted but his mother would quench her thirst in the end.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he rolled on the ground in order to avoid another shot of sand. Gaara was attacking from all directions and not giving him time to counter. If he wanted to hurt the sand ninja then he had to drop his enhanced speed. Doing this would leave him vulnerable to attacks but it would give him the power he needed to bring Gaara down.

The Uchiha jumped up a tree before coming to a rest on a branch. He ran through hand signs and put a hand on his mouth. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A large ball of flame shot out of Sasuke's mouth. The fireball flew towards Gaara but before the attack could hurt the redhead, a large wall created of sand appeared before him. The fireball clashed against the wall of sand before bursting and creating a large explosion.

Sasuke shielded his eyes from the explosion. He didn't noticed the stream of sand making its way towards him before it was too late. The sand gripped his foot and flung him towards a tree. Sasuke sailed through the air but regained his balance and used his feet to bounce off the tree. Gaara's eyes widened when he saw Sasuke flying towards him. Sasuke raised his fist and punched Gaara on the jaw. Gaara's skin cracked and he crashed against a tree.

Sasuke panted from where he stood. There was no way that Gaara would be getting up after that. He allowed a small smirk to escape his face. He had been able to defeat Gaara, this proved that he was strong. Not strong enough to beat Itachi but he was getting there.

The Uchiha gasped when sand shot out of where Gaara had been. Gaara walked towards him but his appearance had changed. His right arm was now covered in sand as was half of his face. He had a crazy look on his eye and Sasuke couldn't help but shiver. Gaara was leaking out a killing intent even greater than Zabuza's.

"You're dead Uchiha!" Gaara yelled in anger.

* * *

"Are we almost there?" Sakura asked in slight panic.

"They stopped running," Pakkun explained, "The two have probably begun to fight. We will reach them in a few minutes."

Sakura, Shikamaru and Shino had been following Pakkun for what appeared to be a long time. The three genin couldn't believe what was happening on the village. On their way out they had seen a giant three-headed snake attacking the village. There were fights between ninja almost everywhere on the village. Some corpses were seen around the village and many wounded ninja dragged themselves around the village. The three genin had been rendered speechless at what they witnessed. This was their first war and they had never imagined the things that they saw.

"We have to think of a plan," Shikamaru informed his two comrades, "Gaara is no pushover, we can't engage him without a well thought out strategy."

"What do you suggest?" Shino asked, "We don't have a lot to work with. We're only three ninja with very different abilities."

Shikamaru frowned. Everything Shino had said was true. His own jutsu were very limited while Shino's bugs were no match for Gaara. Sakura had no apparent skill and would only get on the way so she was discarded from the battle.

"Don't worry," Pakkun said, "I smell one of the other summon hounds coming this way. I assume that Kakashi sent another team to join with us."

Shikamaru smirked, he knew exactly who was coming. "Our chances just went up," he said, "All we have to do is stall Gaara until Naruto arrives."

"How do you know Naruto is coming?" Shino asked.

"I know Naruto well," Shikamaru said with a small smirk, "He wouldn't let us fight Gaara alone. Even if he isn't strong enough to defeat him or even if he's scared. He won't let us fight him alone, that's just the type of person he is."

"How will Naruto help?" Sakura deadpanned, "He's not as strong as Sasuke."

"Then you're in for a surprise when he gets here," Shikamaru said in an amused tone, leaving a very confused Sakura.

* * *

Naruto gritted his teeth as he leapt from tree to tree, following the summon dog. The dog had informed them that Sasuke was fighting at the moment which meant that he had less time than he originally thought. Even though he admitted that Sasuke was strong, Gaara was on an entirely different level. If Gaara had a demon inside of him too, then that meant that he could use its power. If Gaara's demon was anything like his own then Sasuke would be in trouble.

Ino gave a glance at Naruto and frowned. He had been looking worried ever since they left the village. He had paid no attention to the battles going around the village since he appeared to be deep in thought. She didn't know what was going on in his head but she knew that he was troubled by it. If Sasuke was fighting Gaara with Shikamaru and Shino only a few minutes away, why was he getting so worked up? There was no way Gaara could defeat the three of them. Naruto was hiding something and she would find out what it was.

* * *

Sasuke panted as he sat against a tree. Ever since Gaara transformed into a kind of half-demon, his skills and sand control had gone through the roof. Sasuke had been forced to retreat and had been running away from Gaara while thinking of what to do. Fire jutsu would only be a waste of chakra since Gaara's sand would only block them. That only left the Chidori but he would need time to charge it up.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw grains of sand on the corner of the tree. He quickly jumped away and watched as the tree was engulfed with sand. Gaara stood where the tree had been and gave an evil smirk. The Uchiha threw a couple of kunai but Gaara simply raised his sand-covered arm to block them.

"Damn," Sasuke muttered as he leapt away from Gaara. The sand ninja's sand was getting on his nerves but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Stop running and let me kill you!" Gaara yelled with rage. The jinchuuriki shot a wave of sand at Sasuke's retreating figure and smirked when he saw it hit its mark.

Sasuke crashed into the ground and gasped in pain. He tried to stand but found it useless when he felt sand surround his whole body. His eyes widened, he had seen what the sand did to its victims. The Uchiha screamed as he tried to get away from the sand that would crush him to death. The sand started to tighten around his body and the sound of breaking bones was heard throughout the woods.

Gaara licked his lips when he saw Sasuke squirm under his sand. Soon the Uchiha's blood would quench his mother's thirst, and his existence would be proven. He added pressure to the sand and smirked when he heard Sasuke scream in pain. Gaara felt so alive when he heard people scream in pain, it meant that they knew that he existed. He would soon ease his pain.

* * *

Kakashi's lifeless body fell on the floor. Sakon smirked at his handiwork but the smirk disappeared when 'Kakashi' bursted in a cloud of smoke.

"W-what!" Sakon screamed in denial, "Who was I fighting?"

"A shadow clone," a voice said behind him before he lost consciousness.

Ukon watched his brother fall unconscious and charged at Kakashi. The jonin dimply used his superior speed to go behind Ukon before knocking him unconscious. Their knowledge about the Sound village would be useful to the Leaf. The two remaining members of the Sound Four used the moment to flee the scene.

"I guess they got away," Kakashi sighed as he watched Tayuya and Jirobo, with an unconscious Kidomaru on his shoulder, leaving the arena. Kakashi picked up the two unconscious ninja and prepared to leave, "I'll take these two to Ibiki. He'll be able to get the information we need."

* * *

Sasuke screamed in agony. His body was being completely crushed and he could do nothing about it. He already found it difficult to breath and his movement had been completely restrained. Itachi had never seemed so far away. If he couldn't beat Gaara then how would he be able to kill his brother and avenge his clan?

"Sasuke!" Sakura's scream was heard.

Gaara turned his gaze to the newcomers. Three more ninja had arrived which meant that he would get to kill more people. His mother would be quite content with him. He growled when he saw a swarm of bugs come at him. Forced to release Sasuke from his hold, Gaara raised his sand-covered arm to avoid being hurt by the bugs.

Sakura immediately ran to Sasuke and began to cry. "Sasuke! Please be alright!" she cried out as she held his body close.

Shikamaru frowned. Like he guessed, Sakura proved to be useless against Gaara. Emotions would only get people hurt on battle. That only left Shino and himself to stall Gaara long enough to have Naruto arrive and help put Gaara down.

"I will kill you all!" Gaara yelled as he shot a wave of sand at them.

Shino instantly put up a protective wall of bugs. The sand and bugs clashed and Shino saw a large number of his bugs dying. Fighting with his bugs wouldn't be an option against Gaara. They had to be able to outsmart him, good thing that Shikamaru was with him.

"Shino," Shikamaru said with his gaze to Gaara, "I want you to keep Gaara busy. I'll try to trap him with my Shadow Possession jutsu. I'll hold him as long as I can."

"Very well," Shino said with a nod, "I'll try my best to distract him."

"Sakura!" Shikamaru yelled, "I want you to take Sasuke out of here. He's in no condition to fight!"

"R-right," Sakura said shakily. She steadied Sasuke with her shoulder and leapt away from the three genin.

"He won't be going anywhere!" Gaara yelled. The sand jinchuuriki shot a wave of sand at Sakura's retreating figure but found it was a bug clone, "Where are you Sasuke?"

"You'll be fighting me," Shino said emotionlessly.

The bug user shot his bugs at Gaara who used his sand for cover. The bugs avoided the sand and latched into Gaara's body. Gaara flailed his body until the bugs were pushed away. He charged at Shino and punched him on the chest but his body turned into a pile of bugs. Gaara grunted in pain when several kunai struck his back.

"I will kill you!" Gaara's scream echoed through the woods as sand began to cover more of his body. His back became covered by sand and a large tail made of sand was formed.

Gaara tried to charge at Shino but found himself unable to move. "Shadow Possession success," Shikamaru said with a smirk.

"Damn you!" Gaara screamed as he tried to move. Shikamaru gritted his teeth as he tried to keep hold of the sand ninja. He was already low on chakra from his fight with Temari, holding Gaara for more than a few minutes would be impossible.

'_Hurry up Naruto,'_ Shikamaru thought as he struggled to keep Gaara in place.

"Let me go!" Gaara screamed as his body started to counter the effects of the shadow possession.

"Dammit!" Shikamaru cursed as Gaara begin to overpower him, "Shino! Keep him still with your bugs!"

"Right," Shino said as his bugs covered Gaara's body. Gaara's sand enveloped the bugs before crushing them, "It's useless. You're on your own."

"I'll prove my existence!" Gaara yelled as he finally broke away from Shikamaru's hold. The sand ninja instantly charged at the lazy genius and struck him on the chest. Shino was about to aid Shikamaru but was struck by Gaara's sand. The two leaf shinobi fell on the ground while panting in exhaustion, "I'll kill you both before going after the Uchiha."

Shikamaru and Shino could do nothing but stay where they were. Their bodies gave up on them and they ached all over. Gaara's strength was monstrous compared to theirs. Shikamaru cursed his luck, all he ever wanted was to have a peaceful life with a family but all that was over now. He gazed at the clouds and smiled, he would miss watching them.

Gaara took his time in making his way over to the two fallen shinobi. He savored each second of their suffering. They knew that they were going to die and they would scream in fear. That was what Gaara lived for, killing to prove he still lived.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" A powerful gust of wind knocked Gaara away from the fallen genin.

Shikamaru turned his gaze to see Naruto and Ino running over to them. Ino kneeled next to the two in order to check for wounds. Naruto stood next to them in his taijutsu stance, Shikamaru turned to the blond and his eyes widened when he saw something he never thought he would see in Naruto's eyes, fury.

"You came to die too?" Gaara asked with a crazed look on his face, "Very well, I'll kill you too!"

"If you ever come near any of my friends again," Naruto started with his hands and mouth twitching from pure fury, "I'll kill you!"

Naruto opened his right palm to reveal a seal on the glove he wore. The seal shone and one of Asuma's blades appeared on his hand. The blond ran at Gaara at full speed. The sand ninja shot a stream of sand but Naruto easily jumped over it. He proceeded to create a clone that flung him towards Gaara. Before the sand Jinchuuriki knew what happened, his sand arm had been cut off by Naruto's blade.

"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Naruto shot out several balls of wind that hit Gaara all over his body. The attack ended with Naruto putting his hand on Gaara's stomach, "Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" The attack's force knocked Gaara away from the blond jinchuuriki. The redhead crashed against a tree and struggled to get up.

"N-Naruto?" Shino asked himself in disbelief. He had never expected Naruto to do what he and Shikamaru couldn't by himself. What Shikamaru had said was true, Naruto's power would surprise them all.

"Ino," Naruto said in a serious voice, "I want you to take Shikamaru and Shino out of here."

"Not this again!" Ino snapped, "I'll help you. You don't have to do this alone!"

"Fine," Naruto answered, "But when it gets too dangerous, I want you three away from here."

Ino couldn't answer as a wave of sand shot off towards Naruto. The blond rolled to the right and his eyes widened when he saw the sand rip a tree from its roots. Gaara was now almost completely covered in sand with his right arm restored. Gaara charged at Naruto with a scream, the blond tried to jump away but was struck by a wave of sand. The blond sailed through the air before spinning and landing on the ground with a light thud.

"Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Ino yelled as she put a hand on her mouth and shot out several water balls.

The water balls struck Gaara, making him wince slightly. Gaara turned to Ino but as soon as he did, he received a large wound on his back, courtesy of Naruto's blade. Gaara growled before shooting sand at the annoying blonds. Naruto rolled away from the attack while creating a shadow clone. Ino wasn't fast enough to dodge but the Naruto clone used a substitution jutsu on her, making it take the hit and dispel afterwards.

Naruto gazed at Ino and gave her a firm nod. Ino responded with a confident grin and a nod of her own, showing she understood. Since they trained together with Asuma, they had learned a few combination attacks. It turned out that the two could cover each other's weaknesses pretty well.

"Water/Wind Style: Bullet Barrage!" The two yelled as they ran through hand signs and put a hand to their mouths.

The two blonds shot out several air and water balls at Gaara. The sand jinchuuriki used sand to cover the attack but the water from Ino's liquid bullets brought his defenses down. The air and liquid bullets broke through the sand barrier and struck Gaara all throughout his body. The attack ended with two strong air and liquid bullets hitting the redhead and knocking him back several feet.

Naruto panted as he watched Gaara fall on the ground. "How are you on chakra Ino?" he asked, "I have used about half of my reserves."

"I think I have enough chakra for one more attack," Ino admitted while panting heavily, "Why don't I go inside of his mind and control him, while you deliver the final blow?"

"No!" Naruto yelled, almost immediately, "Don't even think of doing that."

"Why not?" Ino asked in confusion.

"Because he has a demon inside of him," Shikamaru said while sitting against a tree, "Isn't that right, Naruto?"

"What are you talking about? That's impossible," Ino said with a shocked expression.

"I didn't remember until now," Shikamaru began, "But many of the tailed demons would be sealed within humans on times of war. This was to gain an upper hand when it came to power."

"Y-you're serious?" Ino asked in disbelief.

Shikamaru nodded. "It's true," he turned to Naruto, "You knew he wasn't lying when he admitted that he had a demon within him because you've heard of this subject before, right?"

Naruto stood quietly before turning to Shikamaru with a smile. "Right," he said, "I think that it was one of those classes where I actually paid attention."

"Is Gaara defeated?" Shino asked after a moment of silence.

"No," Naruto said with a frown, "It was way too easy. I know that he'll get up soon."

"What should we do?" Shino asked with slight alarm heard on his voice.

"All of you have to leave," Naruto said in a serious tone.

"I'm not leaving Naruto!" Ino exclaimed with a frown.

"You're almost out of chakra Ino," Naruto said with a sad look, "Please leave, I couldn't live with myself if I knew I got you hurt."

Ino was about to protest but saw the look on Naruto's eyes. It was a look of desperation mixed with nothing but concern, all directed to her. She couldn't help but blush slightly knowing that Naruto really cared for her. "Fine," she said with a sad smile, "I'll leave with these two. But please, I want you to come back to the village safely and if you don't then you'll have to make it up to me."

"Fine," Naruto said with a small smile, "I promise I'll kick this guy's ass."

Ino couldn't help but laugh slightly before helping Shikamaru and Shino up. The thee began to leave the scene with Ino throwing a last glance at Naruto. _'I know you'll beat him,' _she thought with a smile, _'You're the future Hokage after all.' _

Naruto watched his friends leave with a grin before turning to where Gaara had been thrown. Soon enough, the sand ninja stood back up with a look of anger on his face. Naruto slipped into his taijutsu stance and infused chakra onto his blade.

The blond ran at Gaara, who used his sand to attack him. Not having a lot of energy left, Naruto was hit and thrown back. Using the ground as a spring, Naruto leapt at Gaara. The sand ninja used his sand arm to cover the attack. The blond punched the arm before using his blade to cut through it. As soon as the arm fell on the ground, another one began to reform. Before it formed completely, Naruto kicked Gaara on the face.

The redhead flinched and felt a fist connect with his stomach. Gaara raised his fist to attack but Naruto hopped to the right and delivered a kick to his stomach. Naruto followed with an elbow to Gaara's chest and a kick to the face. Gaara recovered from the kick and punched Naruto away with his newly formed right arm.

The blond landed on the ground with a hard thud but stood up immediately. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled as three clones appeared beside him. The three charged at Gaara and began to attack.

Gaara wasn't able to strike back since they wouldn't stop their attacks. One of the clones' stance fell and Gaara took the opportunity. He punched the first clone, while blocking a kick with his sand arm. He shot a stream of sand at the last two clones and looked for the original. He hissed when he felt something dig into his tail. He turned around to see Naruto trying to jump away but before he could get away, Gaara managed to punch him with his sand arm.

Naruto sailed through the air and smirked. "Got you," he said as he crashed to the ground.

Gaara heard the sound of something burning before the kunai that had been stabbed into his tail exploded. The redhead screamed in pain, since the tail was the only vulnerable place on his body. He was blown away before crashing against a tree, headfirst. Gaara was instantly knocked unconscious.

Naruto stood up shakily and glanced at Gaara's unconscious form. He smirked, he might be bleeding all over the place, have broken bones, internal bleeding but at least he managed to win. Sand shot out of Gaara's body and began to cover him. Naruto gasped when he felt demonic chakra around the area. Gaara's demon was taking over.

The sand formed a giant raccoon made of sand with a single tail. "**I'm finally out!" **Shukaku cheered, "**No more stupid kid holding me back!"**

"Damn," Naruto said with a weary look on his face.

"**I only have to take care of one thing first," **the one-tailed demon turned towards Naruto and gave an evil smirk, **"I'll kill you to quench my thirst!"**

"What the hell do I do?" Naruto asked himself through gritted teeth.

**Ch. 8 End**

**This is it for this chapter. I would like to thank all of those who reviewed and favored this story. The next chapter might take a little while but I'll try to get it out as soon as I can. I hope you liked this chapter and thanks for reading.**


	9. When Jinchuuriki Collide!

**I bring a new update today. This chapter will be mostly about Naruto's fight. Naruto won't be releasing the Kyuubi (as tempting as it is) so sorry to disappoint. I'll try to write better fighting scenes but they aren't my fort so bear with me. Anyway, guess what? I was the lucky one millionth visitor to this site! Crazy I know, but please don't be jealous of my luck. I'll get on with the chapter now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 9 When Jinchuuriki Collide!**

A million thoughts raced through Naruto's head as Shukaku's giant claws descended upon him, with the most prominent one being, 'fuck!' The blond replaced himself with a log, before putting some distance between himself and the giant demon. He had no idea what to do. He was almost out of chakra so wind jutsu would only be a waste of since it wouldn't hurt something that big. Summoning was very tempting but he wasn't able to summon Gamabunta without the fox's chakra.

"**Where are you?" **Naruto heard Shukaku yell.

The blond sat against a tree, hidden from the demon's view, and began to brainstorm ways of beating it without the aid of the Kyuubi. Shadow clones might be able to slow down the one-tailed demon but they required a lot of chakra, something he couldn't waste at the moment. His improved 'Uzumaki Barrage' was out of the question since, again, he didn't have enough chakra. Summoning the chief toad seemed to be the only option he had left.

With much hesitation, Naruto closed his eyes and focused his attention on finding the Kyuubi's chakra. It took a few seconds but he found the vile chakra and began to draw from it. The blond hated every minute of it. He hated needing the help of a demon, he hated the burning of his skin whenever he used the fox's chakra, and most of all, he couldn't stand the amount of hatred that came with the vile chakra. Even though he was still conscious of the things he did, under the influence of the fox's chakra, he would feel a large amount of hate towards anyone that looked his way. He would grow more aggressive and lust for blood.

The blond's appearance begin to change. His fangs grew in size until they stuck out of his mouth, his cheek marks darkened, and his hair became spikier. Naruto felt his hatred towards everything and everyone grow. Repressed emotions from his childhood flared and a growl escaped his mouth. Those damned fools had treated him like dirt, they should pay. He would kill them. The blond jinchuuriki opened his eyes to reveal piercing red eyes with black slits.

With the little amount of reason Naruto had, he tried to calm himself. He had forgiven the villagers since they were only scared and had lost a lot of things to the fox. He had grown to love the village, it was his home. All of his friends lived there and he would protect them at all costs. The people who took away some of the pain and saved him from that dark and lonely place. Naruto felt some of the hate leave and focused his attention on defeating the large demon.

Naruto bit his thumb and ran through hand signs before slamming his hands on the branch he had been standing on. "Summoning Jutsu!"

A giant cloud of smoke appeared in the middle of the forest, gaining Shukaku's attention. There was a loud sound of crashing trees before the smoke begin to disappear. Standing on the forest, facing Shukaku, was the chief toad Gamabunta with his summoner, Naruto, on its head.

"**Why have you summoned me kid?" **Gamabunta asked in annoyance, he had been in the middle of a meal.

Naruto pointed at Shukaku. "Are you blind?" Naruto spat out, "That's the reason I summoned you. I want that demon down!"

Gamabunta frowned, there was something off about the kid. The blond reeked of demonic chakra and the chief toad instantly knew that he was using the fox's chakra at the moment. **"I'll help you fight him. But the minute you stop using that chakra, I will kick your ass."**

"**I'll kill you all!" **Shukaku yelled as he opened his mouth, **"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" **

Giant balls of wind came out of Shukaku's mouth, making Naruto's look like a drop in the ocean.

"**Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" **Gamabunta yelled as he shot out giant balls of water that countered Shukaku's, **"Hang on kid!"**

"To what?" Naruto yelled as the toad jumped up. Using chakra to stick to the toads head, Naruto watched as the two giants clashed.

Gamabunta grabbed Shukaku's shoulders but was easily pushed away. The toad reached for his blade and charged at the one-tailed demon. With a clean swipe the blade dug into Shukaku's skin but made no damage, it simply dug into the sand, the demon struck the chief toad on the face before Gamabunta jumped away to put some distance between the two.

"**Nobody's capable of stopping me!" **Shukaku cheered, **"I'll destroy everything!"**

Naruto growled, still under the effects of the Kyuubi's chakra. "Any ideas chief?" The blond jinchuuriki asked, "Kick his ass already!"

"**I'm no match for a tailed-best, you fool!" **Shukaku snapped in anger, **"We have to wake up Shukaku's host."**

Naruto looked at the demon and saw no sign of Gaara. "How the hell do we do that?" He asked with a frown, "I don't see that Gaara bastard anywhere!"

"**The kid should be on Shukaku's forehead," **Gamabunta explained, **"You have to get through the sand in order to wake him up. I'll get close to him, be ready to attack."**

"Got it!" Naruto said with a firm nod.

* * *

Ino, Shino and Shikamaru watched the battle from a safe distance. Ino wanted to be there in case Naruto needed help while Shino and Shikamaru were too tired to go any further. Gaara was winning by the looks of things but the giant toad wasn't so far behind. Shikamaru thought that they were about even but the giant raccoon had the upper hand since the toad's blades couldn't cut through the sand.

"It's going to be a long fight," Shino said.

Shikamaru nodded. "I just hope Naruto makes it out alive," he said with a sigh, "That Gaara is way past genin level."

"Don't say things like that!" Ino snapped, "Naruto will come back safely… he promised."

* * *

"**Get ready kid!" **Gamabunta said as he charged at Shukaku. The chief toad took hold of its sides and held him in a tight grip, **"Go wake him up!"**

Naruto jumped off Gamabunta's head and onto Shukaku's. "Wind Style," Naruto began to run through hand seals before bringing a hand to his mouth, "Devastation!" A powerful gust of air came out of Naruto's mouth and blew part of the sand on Shukaku's head away, revealing Gaara's unconscious form. "Wake up you bastard!" The blond yelled as he raised his fist, ready to punch Gaara awake.

Shukaku's eyes widened. **"I won't go back in!" **The one-tailed demon began to thrash about, breaking Gamabunta's hold on him, **"Get the hell off!" **It began to shake its head rapidly, enraged at the brat that was trying to put him back on that damned prison.

Naruto tried to hold on by using his chakra to stick to the head but found it incredibly hard. With one last shake of its head, Naruto was thrown off the Shukaku and fell towards the ground at an incredible pace. The blond saw the oncoming ground and closed his eyes, it would hurt. He felt something wrap around his waist and his fall stopped.

"**I got you kid," **Gamabunta said with his tongue wrapped around Naruto.

"**I'll kill you both!" **Shukaku yelled. It opened its mouth and small bubbles started to form around it. There were small blue bubbles mixed with black bubbles, the small bubbles simply floated around until they began to move towards Shukaku's mouth. The bubble's began to merge and started to create a large black sphere.

The chief toad put Naruto back on its head just in time to witness the attack beginning to form. "What the hell is that?" Naruto exclaimed in anger.

Gamabunta's eyes widened, he had seen that attack before. **"There's only one thing to do kid. You're going to get one last shot at waking the kid. If you don't then your village is doomed." **Naruto's eyes widened and he narrowed his eyes, he would stop the Shukaku for his friends. He had promised himself to protect them all on his own power, the fox wouldn't help end this fight he would make sure of it. His appearance began to turn back to normal, showing that the Kyuubi's chakra was leaving his system, **"I'm going to throw you high in the air. Use the momentum to deliver your strongest attack and wake the kid."**

"Don't worry chief, I'll wake him up." Naruto assured with a confident grin. Gamabunta's tongue wrapped tightly around Naruto's waist as Shukaku's attack was done charging.

Shukaku swallowed the black ball as Gamabunta threw Naruto in the air. Shukaku's stomach inflated before returning to normal. The Shukaku opened its mouth and released a powerful yellow beam that tore into the ground and obliderated trees as it made its way to the chief toad. Naruto watched the attack in awe while rocketing up the sky. He looked at the chief toad facing the powerful attack with nothing but his large sword and smiled, Gamabunta was truly brave.

As the attack approached Gamabunta, the chief toad left in a cloud of smoke to return home to safety. _'What the hell? _Naruto thought with an angry expression, _'Why did he just leave me here?' _The attack exploded into the ground in a display of raw power. Tree's were blown away and smoke filled the entire area. When the smoke cleared, there was a huge crater where Gamabunta had been standing only moments ago.

"**I killed them!" **Shukaku cheered, not seeing Naruto sailing through the air.

"He's distracted, now's my chance." Naruto muttered to himself. He wouldn't let the stupid demon hurt his friends or the village. He had promised to protect them and had told Ino that he would go back to the village safely. He had to win!

Naruto's momentum ended and he began to fall rapidly. _'This is it!" _He thought as he held his right hand to the side and began to forge wind chakra into his palm, wind gathered on his hand and a ball of wind began to form. The ball of wind chakra flashed blue for a second before turning back to its original white and grey color.

"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" Naruto yelled as he crashed into Shukaku's head. The attack resulted on a large crater on Shukaku's head and a huge cloud of sand.

"**Dammit!" **Shukaku screamed in pain. Gaara's unconscious form became visible on Shukaku's head and Naruto ran at it with his right fist held back.

"Wake the hell up already!" Naruto yelled as he brought his fist to Gaara's face. His fist connected with Gaara's jaw with a loud breaking bone sound, from Gaara's jaw or his own knuckles, he didn't know.

Gaara's eyes snapped open and Shukaku's body began to break. **"No! Dammit!" **The Shukaku yelled as it began to disappear. Soon Shukaku's whole body turned back to ordinary sand, leaving Naruto and Gaara falling helplessly to the ground since they were not able to move anymore from the strain their bodies had taken. The two landed on the unforgiving ground with loud thuds and everything grew quiet on the woods. No more sounds of battle, no more curses, no more tremors. The only thing heard was the heavy breathing of two shinobi.

Gaara was sprawled on the ground. His whole body ached and his jaw was in incredible pain. He couldn't understand how he had gotten beaten. He had experienced more pain than anyone and lived only for himself. How had he lost? What did he lack?

Naruto's muffled groan was heard. He had fallen on the ground face down, hurting most of his bones. His chakra was almost gone and his body was in pain. With the adrenaline gone, he could feel each of the wounds Gaara had inflicted on him. But he wasn't done yet. Gaara was still there and was a danger to the village, to his friends. The blond gritted his teeth and began to drag himself towards Gaara. He and the redhead were the same but Gaara had taken a turn he had avoided thanks to Iruka and all of his friends.

Gaara's eyes widened when he saw Naruto moving towards him. The redhead's body wouldn't move, he was vulnerable, Naruto would kill him. "No," Gaara said in fear, "I won't have my existence erased! Get away! Stop!" The blond didn't stop and continued to move towards Gaara, causing him to scream in fear.

Naruto stopped dragging himself towards Gaara, making the redhead stop screaming and look at him in fear of being killed. Naruto understood why Gaara didn't want to die. All Gaara had was himself, his life was all he cherished. Just like Naruto had. "It's almost unbearable… isn't it?"

Gaara gave Naruto a confused expression. The blond slowly lifted his face to meet Gaara's gaze. The redhead looked into Naruto's eyes and his eyes widened slightly. Those eyes, were just like his own, full of loneliness.

"I know what it's like…" Naruto began, "Having everyone look at you in fear. Being ignored by everyone and avoided like the plague. I have a demon inside of me too." Gaara's eyes widened, someone else knew of his pain, "There was a time when I felt just like you… I hated everyone. I wanted them all to feel my pain, wanted to make them suffer for acting like I didn't exist… like my life didn't even matter."

A few tears escaped Naruto's eyes and he gave a small smile. "But then, I met Iruka-sensei. He was the first person other than the Hokage, to acknowledge me. At that point I thought that there was hope… maybe I could be acknowledged by more people." Gaara listened to every word, wondering if he too could be acknowledged, "As time passed, I met more people that looked at me as a friend… someone important to them." Naruto smiled thinking of his friends, the people he would give his life to protect, "I grew to cherish those bonds and nothing will ever break them, even if they are damaged. That's why I'll give my life to protect them! They took me out of that dark and lonely place, they are my saviors."

Naruto's gaze turned to one of anger and he began to try to stand up. He used his left hand to support himself before doing the same with his right. It was hard and painful but he managed to get into a crawling position. "If you ever try to hurt them…" He glared at Gaara, "I'll slaughter you!"

Gaara turned his gaze to the sky, reflecting on his life. _'Love is what made him strong,' _he thought, _'Maybe I can form bonds also. I still don't understand completely but I will try.' _The redhead turned back to Naruto and gave him a nod, "I don't want to fight anymore. I won't hurt your friends."

Naruto smiled weakly. "I understand why you acted like you did." The blond gave Gaara a grin, "I won't hold it against you. Maybe we could become friends in the future, Gaara."

Gaara managed a small grin. "I'd like that," he said weakly, "Naruto Uzumaki."

The blond smiled before he laid down on the ground and closed his eyes, the effects of the fight finally too much for him. He slipped into blissful unconsciousness with inner peace, he had succeeded on protecting his friends.

* * *

"Is it over?" Ino asked. She, Shikamaru and Shino had seen the disappearance of the Shukaku after a big explosion happened on its head.

"It appears so," Shino said.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and smirked. "He actually did it," he said, "We might as well go get him." He opened his eyes to see Shino pointing towards Naruto's direction.

"Ino left while you were talking," Shino said.

"Man," Shikamaru replied with a sigh, "Blondes are way too troublesome."

* * *

Kakashi arrived to a weird scene. Naruto was sleeping on the ground with Gaara gazing at the sky only a few feet away. He expected to arrive to see the two trying to kill each other but, to be honest, he was glad they were done. It meant he was probably done fighting for the day. He would fight for his village any day but it was always good to lay back and relax.

"I take it you beat Naruto?" Kakashi asked the redhead.

Gaara shook his head with his gaze never leaving the sky. "I was defeated by Naruto." He admitted, "His merely resting, a luxury which I do not have."

Kakashi eye-smiled, he was proud of his student. He had assumed that Naruto had calmed Gaara down after losing but he had actually defeated a chunin level ninja, it would be the last time he didn't believe in his student. "I take it Naruto told you of his burden." Gaara turned his gaze to Kakashi and nodded, "Good. I hope you two become friends. Because you know of each other's pain then it'll be easier to cope with it. It's always a good thing to have a friend you can familiarize with."

"I hope I'll be able to follow in Naruto's example," Gaara said with a small nod.

"Well," Kakashi said with an eye-smile breaking the tension, "Sorry to say this but I have to take you back to the village. Don't worry though, you won't be trialed since you were listening to the orders of an imposter."

"The Kazekage died?" Receiving a nod from Kakashi, Gaara gazed at the sky once again, "That's good."

Kakashi sweat dropped, he probably didn't want to know why it was a good thing. With a shrug Kakashi created a shadow clone and had him pick up the two jinchuurikis. They would need some medical attention but then again, many ninja did. It would probably be a while before they were discharged. Kakashi inwardly smirked, it would give him a lot of quality reading time.

* * *

Naruto's eyes opened slightly before closing again. He could probably get a few more minutes of sleep. The blond went back to sleep but felt something soft on his cheek. He was puzzled as to what it was, he had never felt anything like it and it left a tingling sensation on his cheek. The blond regained some conscience and wondered where he was. The last thing he remembered was talking to Gaara and then going to sleep.

The blond slowly opened his eyes. He was greeted by white walls and immediately closed his eyes due to the light they reflected. He waited a few seconds before opening his eyes again and making sense of where he was. His right hand was heavily bandaged and he was in a white bed.

'_Great, I'm in the hospital,' _Naruto thought with a groan. He hated hospitals, they smelled funny and had the worst tasting food that would only taste worse because of the hospital's smell. The sound of footsteps got his attention and he turned his gaze to the white door, seriously why did everything have to be white in hospitals. Ino stood in front of the door with a hand on the door knob, she turned around and got a shocked look on her face.

"N-Naruto?" Ino asked still with the shocked look but it slowly turned into a smile. "You're awake!" Without thinking, Ino threw herself at Naruto and enveloped him in a hug.

Naruto felt a blush make its way to his cheeks but returned the hug with his good hand. "Why am I here?" He asked, the blond had no idea what happened after Gaara's defeat.

Ino broke the hug and smiled at the blond. "You've been unconscious for six days," she informed him, giggling at his shocked expression, "After you beat Gaara, Kakashi-sensei brought you here. You were pretty hurt but at least you won, right?"

"I guess," Naruto said with a puzzled look, "What happened to Gaara?"

Ino frowned. "He was here for one day and then they just let him go!" She snapped, "Can you believe that? He didn't get in trouble for anything!"

Naruto chuckled, Ino was funny whenever she got riled up. "Don't worry about it Ino!" Naruto said with his usual cheerfulness, "It's not like Gaara did anything wrong. He was just following his village's orders. Besides, he didn't actually attack the village himself."

"What are you talking about?" Ino snapped with an angry look, "Loot at you Naruto! You're hurt! Do you know how worried I was? I don't know why they let him go after he left you like this!"

Naruto gave Ino a reassuring smile. "I'm fine Ino, really." He lifted his right hand and waved it around, "This is nothing. I'll be back to normal in no time." Ino was about to retaliate but Naruto interrupted, "It's really okay Ino. I know why Gaara did what he did. He didn't have anyone so he was only trying to find a way to show he existed. It's okay Ino."

Ino sighed, leave it to Naruto to have such a forgiving heart. "Fine… but!" She pointed a finger at Naruto and smiled, "You owe me."

"W-what?" Naruto exclaimed, "I don't owe you anything."

Ino's smile grew bigger. "Of course you do," she started, "You promised that you would get back to the village safely and you did not."

Naruto shuddered, he knew that Gama would be taking another blow soon. "What did you have in mind?" He scratched the back of his head, "I-it's not shopping again, is it?"

Ino crossed her arms. "What is it with men hating shopping?" She asked with a fake frown. She gave Naruto a smile that he knew all too well, it usually led to something he didn't want to do, "You're going to have dinner with me and my parents!"

"W-what?" Naruto half-yelled.

"You heard me," Ino said with a triumphant smile, "My parents wanted to know more about you and they never got to talk to you. It's only fair that you have a decent dinner with them."

"F-fine," Naruto said. He assumed that facing his fear of adults would be a good thing, what kind of future Hokage didn't talk to adults?

"Good!" Ino exclaimed with a smile, "I'll tell my parents and then we'll set the date."

The door opened once again, getting the attention of the two blondes, and the Hokage entered the room. "Hello Naruto," Sarutobi said with a small smile, "It's nice to see you finally woke up."

"Hey old man!" Naruto greeted with a smile, "Glad to see you're okay!"

Ino turned to Naruto and gave him a cold glare. "Naruto," she whispered harshly, "You can't talk to the Hokage like that."

Naruto was about to disagree but saw the intensity of the glare. "R-right." He said with a nervous smile, "What brings you here... Lord Hokage?" Ino gave Naruto a sweet smile. Naruto found himself blushing slightly and quickly turned his gaze to the Hokage, expecting him to say something.

"I came here to thank you," the Hokage said. He smiled at the odd looks the blondes gave him, "Thanks to your intervention Orochimaru's plans were ruined."

"It was nothing," Naruto said with an embarrassed blush.

The Hokage chuckled. "I also wanted to thank you for not only stopping Gaara, but for steering him to the right path. You completed your first A-rank mission as a leader and proved to be capable of making right decisions concerning your teammates' well-being." Sarutobi took out a sealing scroll and gave it to Naruto. "I would like you to open it and be the first to congratulate you."

Naruto poured some chakra into the scroll and watched as something appeared in a small cloud of smoke. The blond's eyes widened and he gave Sarutobi an exited smile. The Hokage smiled, Naruto had truly done him proud and deserved what he gave him.

"I would like to congratulate you on becoming a chunin," the Hokage said with a smile.

Naruto looked at the vest sitting on his lap and smiled. "Alright!" The blond cheered, "One step closer to becoming Hokage."

"You deserve it Naruto," Ino said with a smile.

"I have to leave now," Sarutobi said with a nod of his head, "There's much to do in the village."

"I'll see you later old m… I mean Lord Hokage!" Naruto said while giving Ino a nervous smile. The Hokage smiled and left the room, happy that Naruto was turning out to be a strong shinobi.

"I have to go too Naruto," Ino said with a hint of dissapointment, "I have to go help in the flower shop."

Naruto nodded before getting a confused look on his face. "Hey, Ino," Naruto said in a confused tone. Ino gave him a questioning look and motioned him to go on, "I'm not really sure but I felt something on my cheek earlier, do you know what it was?"

Ino's whole face turned red and she turned her gaze to the floor, "I d-don't know what you're talking about." She muttered quietly.

"I don't know," Naruto continued, "I really think I felt something press against my cheek."

Ino snapped her gaze at Naruto and gave him an angry look that didn't have the desired effect with the deep blush adorning her cheeks, "S-shut up!" She exclaimed, "I'm out of here!"

Ino ran out of the room, leaving a very confused Naruto. "What did I do?" He asked himself with confusion written all over his face, "I really don't understand girls."

**Ch. 8 End**

**This marks the end of this arc. As you can see, the story will go very differently from here. Naruto is now a chunin and any other genin who made chunin will be revealed next chapter. I still don't know what other pairings I'll do so please give me some suggestions. **

**That is all for this chapter, I hope you liked it.**


	10. A Trip with Jiraiya!

**This story has over 20,000 hits! I would like to thank all of those who added this story to their favorites and alerts and of course those who reviewed. All of those who asked questions, I'm sorry but I can't give out much since most of the questions have a lot to do with the story. What I can tell you is that Naruto won't be learning a lot more jutsu on this story, in the sequel however… well I can't say much. **

**Sorry it took some time to get this chapter out but I've been busier than expected and took a small break from writing. Not to worry though, I'll make sure to have at least two updates per week. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 10 A Trip with Jiraiya!**

Naruto sat atop the Fourth Hokage's head with a content smile. He wore his Chunin vest on top of his long-sleeve black shirt, signifying that he was now a chunin-leveled shinobi. He could see many people, villagers and shinobi alike, helping in the reconstruction of Konoha. It had been a few days since the invasion and things were already returning back to normal. Naruto had had his share of duties on helping reconstruct the village as soon as he got out of the hospital. Genins helped with small stuff, giving them a lot of free time. Naruto as a Chunin, Naruto was expected to help the most he could. It was no wonder that Shikamaru hated being made a Chunin along with Naruto.

The blond hadn't seen much of Ino in the last few days due to his busy agenda. It wasn't until today that Naruto got taken off Reconstruction Duty, as the Third called it, and the blond was looking forward to a few days off. He found himself happy at being able to spend time with Ino again since she had become an important person in his life. Thinking about Ino, Naruto couldn't help but sigh.

On his last visit to the Hokage's office, he had run into Jiraiya. The sage had told him of an upcoming trip the two would be taking. They were to search for the legendary medic Tsunade for an undetermined amount of time. Naruto had been exited at first but Jiraiya told him that he would train him on using the fox's chakra. The blond hesitated but finally agreed after Jiraiya pestered him for about a day. He was afraid of using the chakra and paled when Jiraiya suggested telling his friends about the fox. The reason being that if he were to use that power in front of his friends then they would be wary of him subconsciously since they wouldn't know where the unknown power came from, it was best to tell them beforehand.

Jiraiya had told him that telling his closest friend about it would make it a lot easier to tell his other friends. The sage told him to do it when he was ready but telling them sooner would keep them from fearing him. That had been three days ago and Naruto hadn't had the courage nor time to tell Ino about his burden. He knew that Jiraiya was right which is why he was currently on top of the Hokage Monument, admiring the view of the village. It gave him a sense of peace that he would need since he planned on telling Ino about the fox that same night.

Naruto stood up and gazed at the village. "I have to tell her," the blond muttered to himself with a sigh.

* * *

The Third sighed as he looked over the large amount of paperwork on his desk. Orochimaru was truly evil, having an attack on the village had increased his paperwork immensely, an evil plan indeed. Papers with many different kind of permits filled his desk. This was probably the worst part of being the Hokage, he knew that Naruto would give up on his dream if he learned about the evils of paperwork.

"You look like hell old man," Jiraiya said from his sitting position on the window's railing.

"Jiraiya," the Third said with a nod, "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to know how the meeting with the elders went," the toad sage said with a grin.

Sarutobi sighed. "They were quite concerned with what you're planning to do. Their fear for the fox is too strong and they disapproved of you teaching Naruto how to use it," he explained, "We discussed it for hours until they finally agreed with me. They didn't want to listen to me until I told them that if Naruto was trained in the use of the fox's chakra, that would mean that Tsunade would be needed back in the village. Their desire to have Tsunade back on the village made them accept my proposal."

Jiraiya scoffed. "As if they could've done anything against your orders," he sighed and shook his head, "I take it you made it official then."

The Third nodded and tossed a scroll to Jiraiya. "That contains the mission of searching for Tsunade," he explained, "It is an A-rank mission due to the time it could take."

"This will go on Naruto's record too right?" Jiraiya asked with a raised brow. The Third chuckled and nodded his head, he was content with the care his student showed for Naruto, "Alright then, when do we leave?"

"You are to leave by tomorrow." Sarutobi said, "Take care of Naruto, it's dangerous to let him out of the village if what you said was true."

"Don't worry old man," Jiraiya said in a serious tone, "I'm more than capable of handling a few rogue ninja, besides I always have Sage Mode at my disposal."

Sarutobi nodded. "You're right, now about your other idea," he said, "When do you plan on taking Naruto on that training trip?"

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "I'm not sure," he admitted, "I have to do meet with some contacts in a few weeks so I assume that I'll take him after I come back. That should be in around a month."

Sarutobi nodded. "Very well," he took out a paper and started to write, "I'll start the paperwork for your training trip but because of the situation we're in, Naruto will be receiving missions on a constant basis."

"That's okay," Jiraiya said with a grin, "It will give him the experience he will need if he is to be able to protect himself against that group. Just make sure that the missions don't interfere with his training."

"I know," the Third said with a nod, "I plan on sending missions with his training in mind."

"Good," Jiraiya said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some research to do." With that the toad sage jumped out the window.

Sarutobi sighed. "He'll never change," he couldn't help but chuckle at his student as he took out an all too familiar orange book, "That's a good thing."

* * *

Ino sighed as she stood behind the counter of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. She had been stuck in the shop while her dad helped out on the village and her mom met with other flower shops to discuss whatever flower shop owners discuss. Training had been scarce due to the time she spent on the shop. She was glad that things were getting better in the village since that meant that she could get back to training and maybe she would get to spend more time with Naruto.

Ino couldn't help but frown. The idiot hadn't even visited her in the past few days. As soon as he got out of the hospital, he just disappeared. Naruto would get it when she saw him again. She had told her parents that Naruto would have dinner with them whenever he could and the blond idiot just went and disappeared.

"Ino," a voice said.

She would make the idiot pay for just ignoring her and her family like that. She thought of ways to make him pay for his behavior. Hitting him, no, it was a little extreme and he was already hit enough by Sakura.

"Ino," the voice repeated a little louder.

Ino smiled when she got the perfect plan. It would be the best way to punish Naruto without looking like an abusive person. She would find ways to deny Naruto his ramen, it was brilliant. She patted herself on the back for a good idea.

"Ino!" the voice exclaimed.

Ino broke out of her thoughts and saw Naruto's face a few inches from her own. She yelped and moved away from the blond with a bright blush on her face. "W-what are you doing?" she asked with a panicked expression.

"You're finally out of your daze," Naruto said with a smile, "I've been trying to get your attention for a while now."

Ino crossed her arms and turned away from Naruto. "So, now you decide to make some time for me," she huffed and frowned, "You just disappeared for a long time and come back like nothing happened."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry Ino but I've been busy with the reconstruction of the village," he explained with a nervous smile, "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to see you."

"It's okay," Ino said with a pout.

Naruto smiled. "Don't worry Ino I'll make it up to you!" He declared as he pointed at himself, "You have my word that I'll do anything you ask."

Ino couldn't help but smile, it was hard to stay mad at Naruto. "Fine, I forgive you," she then broke into an exited smile and took hold of Naruto's right hand, "Guess what!"

"W-what?" Naruto asked with a blush on his face. Ino's hands were soft against his own.

"My parents said that you could have dinner with us anytime," she declared, "Which means that you'll have to eat with us tonight!"

"Tonight?" Naruto asked with a worried look. Ino nodded with a happy smile making the blond feel guilty of thinking of turning her down, "Alright, I'll be here."

Ino gave Naruto a hug. "Don't worry Naruto it'll go well," she broke the hug and gave Naruto a smile, "Be here at eight sharp. I don't want you making a bad impression on my parents."

"Okay," Naruto said with a nod, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," Ino said happily, she was glad that Naruto would meet her parents. He would actually be the first person to have dinner with them.

"If you don't mind," he started with a nervous voice, "Do you think we could go walk around town after the dinner is over… I have something important to tell you."

Ino's heartbeat rose and she felt a blush creep into her cheeks. _'It couldn't be that… could it?' _she asked herself with a deepening blush. "S-sure Naruto. I don't mind."

"Great," Naruto said with a small grin, "I'll see you later!"

Ino watched the blond run out of the store with the blush never leaving her face. "Is he planning on asking me out," the thought of Naruto as a boyfriend was a little weird but she felt that it wouldn't be too bad. He was a happy person who cared for her and would make her feel important.

Thinking about a relationship with Naruto brought back the things she felt for him. It wasn't until that moment that she realized that maybe she really wanted to be more than a friend to Naruto. "I think I'm falling for Naruto," she admitted to herself.

"Are you, now?" asked Inoichi from behind his daughter. Ino turned around with a petrified look on her face.

"D-daddy?" Ino stammered with an embarrassed blush on her face.

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets with a nervous look on his face. It was almost eight and he was making his way to Ino's house. He was completely nervous at the fact that he was about to eat with Ino's parents. Though he talked to Ino's mom from time to time he still preferred to keep his distance from her, he still didn't feel right around civilian adults. Having to tell Ino about the fox didn't make things any easier. He was afraid of Ino ending their friendship because of the fox but at the same time, he knew that he had to tell her.

He arrived at Ino's home and knocked on the front door. A few seconds later Ino opened the door with a smile on her face. "You made it!" Ino said with a happy smile, "Come in, my parents are in the living room."

"Okay," Naruto said as he was led into the house by Ino. She led him to the living room where Ino's mom and dad sat on one of the three couches that adorned the room, deep in conversation.

"Mom, dad," Ino interrupted their conversation. The two adults turned around and had different reactions. Miki smiled at Naruto while Inoichi glared at him, "He's here." Ino said lamely, feeling the tension in the room.

Inoichi nodded. "At least he's on time," he muttered with his eyes narrowed at Naruto. The blond felt a lump on his throat and gulped nervously.

Miki elbowed her husband on the ribs, making him groan in pain. "Calm down," she whispered harshly before turning to Naruto with a gentle smile, "It's nice to have you here."

"G-good to be here," Naruto said with his gaze lowered slightly.

There was an awkward silence and Ino mentally groaned. _'It's going to be a long night,' _she thought with a frown.

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone with a stoic look on his face. He had just come back from another mission and decided to visit his old comrades. It had been busy for Kakashi since the village had been taking all kinds of missions in order to prevent other villages from thinking that their defenses were down.

"Long day, huh? But that's what comes from being a shinobi," Jiraiya said from behind Kakashi.

Kakashi turned to the sage with an eye-smile. "It's not so bad," he said, "What brings you here Lord Jiraiya?"

"I came here to talk about a certain student of yours," Jiraiya said with his arms crossed.

"I take it you're talking about Naruto?" Kakashi asked with a chuckle, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'll be taking over his teachings from now on," Jiraiya said in a serious tone.

"What?" Kakashi asked in confusion, "I know he's a Chunin now but that doesn't mean that he is out of Team 7."

"I know that," Jiraiya stated, "I will be taking Naruto on a training trip in only one month."

Kakashi frowned, not liking the idea. "I've only started training Naruto," he argued, "In order to make my team stronger I'll need him to be here."

"That's not the point," the toad sage said with a frown, "There's a group looking for people like Naruto." Kakashi's eyes widened, a group searching for Jinchuuriki hadn't been heard of before. "They consist of several S-class ninja. In order for Naruto to be ready, I'll have to teach him everything I know. I didn't come here to _ask_, I came here to tell you that Naruto is going with me."

"I understand," Kakashi said with a sigh, "When do you think they'll start looking for Naruto?"

Jiraiya sighed. "I don't know," he admitted, "Information on them is pretty scarce. From what I know about seals I assume that in order to contain the Kyuubi a large amount of chakra is needed. Meaning that Naruto will be the last one they'll attempt to capture."

"What group is this?" Kakashi asked with a narrowed eye.

"Akutsuki," Jiraiya said with a frown.

* * *

Naruto and Ino sat next to each other on top of the Hokage Monument. Naruto figured that telling Ino here would be easier since this place brought him peace. The blond was really nervous about telling Ino. Her reaction would tell him how everyone else would think of him. He turned his gaze at Ino and gulped.

Ino was nervous for other reasons. She thought that Naruto would ask her to be his girlfriend and she didn't know what to think. Having Naruto as a boyfriend would be great but it was way too soon for her. She wasn't prepared emotionally for what Naruto was going to ask her and didn't know how she was going to react.

"Ino," Naruto muttered, getting the attention of the blonde, "Funny dinner, huh?" The blond scolded himself for being an idiot.

"Yeah," Ino said with a small smile remembering their dinner. Naruto hadn't talked much but she assumed it was because her dad kept glaring at him.

'_I have to do this,' _Naruto told himself with a determined expression. "Ino I have something important to tell you," he declared with his gaze fixed on Ino's eyes.

Ino blushed. "S-sure Naruto," she said with a nervous expression.

"What I have to tell you is not going to be pretty," Naruto said in a serious tone. Ino looked confused, if he wasn't going to ask her out then what was he going to do, "It's really hard for me to tell you this but I feel like I have to tell you."

"What is it?" Ino asked.

Naruto turned his gaze to the village. Ino saw a sad look on Naruto's eyes and wondered what he was going to tell her. "Did you ever wonder why I didn't have any friends when I was a kid? Or why people look at me differently?"

Ino found herself nodding. She really didn't know. Whenever she and Naruto walked through the village people would often give him looks of fear mixed with anger. She had thought that Naruto was oblivious to the looks but now knew otherwise.

"Do you remember what Shikamaru said about Gaara when I was about to fight him alone?" Naruto asked her as he met her eyes. Ino nodded, remembering that Shikamaru had told her that Gaara had a demon inside of him, "People like Gaara. They're called… Jinchuuriki." Naruto's gaze turned back to the village and Ino saw a look of pain on his eyes, "Gaara was treated pretty harshly when growing up. Nobody wanted to be near him and they tried to ignore him."

"What does that have to do with what you're telling me?" Ino asked in slight worry, putting two and two together.

"When the village was attacked by the Kyuubi the Fourth wasn't able to beat it, like we were told in class," Naruto said in a hurt tone, "The Fourth realized that in order to stop the Kyuubi he had to seal it into someone." Ino's eyes widened and she looked at Naruto in worry, "He sealed it into a baby that had nothing to do with the fox."

A tear ran down Naruto's cheek. "Naruto," Ino said in a sad tone. She already knew what he was about to say but had to make sure, "Who was it sealed into?"

Naruto wiped the tear away and gazed at the sky. "It was sealed into me," he said with a frown, "I never really knew why the Fourth chose me. I guess it was just my luck but I don't blame him for it. I know that he was looking out for the whole village and sealing the fox into me was the only way to save everyone."

Naruto's eyes widened when he felt Ino wrap her arms around him. "It's okay Naruto," Ino said with tears threatening to fall.

"W-what?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He hadn't been expecting her to accept him so easily.

"It's okay Naruto," she repeated a little louder. She rested her head against Naruto's neck and hugged him a little harder, "I never really thought that you had to carry such a burden for all of us. Naruto, you always looked so happy, why didn't you tell anyone about it!"

Naruto returned the hug and closed his eyes. "I was always scared of my friends looking at me the same way the villagers do," he admitted with a few tears welling up on his eyes, "I thought that if I looked happy then my friends wouldn't see that I was in pain."

"You don't have to be strong anymore Naruto," Ino said with tears running down her cheeks, "You don't have to be strong around me. Just let it all out, I'll always be there for you."

Tears ran down Naruto's face as he tightened his grip on Ino. "Thank you," Naruto said before breaking down, holding on to Ino as if she were his lifeline.

"It'll be alright Naruto," Ino whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. She hadn't known that Naruto was in such pain, it made her feel bad that she hadn't done anything for her friend. The blond had saved the village from destruction and had been rewarded with nothing but pain. She would be there for him from now on and she'd be damned if anyone ever hurt Naruto again.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he made his way to Konoha's gate. It was morning and the sun was creeping in the horizon. It was time for Naruto and Jiraiya to leave in search of Tsunade and he would be doing so in high spirits. The blond saw the gate in the distance and his eyes widened when he saw Ino standing there.

"Ino?" Naruto muttered in a confused tone. The blond made his way to the kunoichi and smiled, "What are you doing here?"

Ino put her hands on her hips and smiled. "You didn't think I would let you leave without seeing you off, did you?" Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head in response. Ino sighed, "Seriously Naruto, sometimes you're just too clueless."

"I couldn't agree more!" Came Jiraiya's voice. The two blondes turned to see Jiraiya approaching them with a grin.

Naruto pouted. "At least I'm not a pervert like you Jiraiya-sensei," he argued.

"How dare you?" Jiraiya asked with an offended look, "I'm not a pervert… I am a super pervert!"

"Let's just go already," Naruto said with a sigh before turning to Ino with a smile, "I'll see you soon Ino."

Ino nodded with a smile. "Just remember that you will take me out wherever I want when you come back," she said with a smirk, "Or did you forget that you promised to do anything I asked?"

"Of course not," Naruto said with a pout before breaking into a grin, "I'll be back soon."

"This is good. This is good," Jiraiya muttered as he wrote furiously on his notebook.

"What are you doing!" Naruto exclaimed with a frown, "Let's just go already!" The blond walked out of the village with Jiraiya still writing on his notebook.

Ino watched the pair leave with a smile. She and Naruto had grown a lot closer thanks to him telling her about his burden. She now knew what her answer would be if Naruto ever asked her out. Ino giggled before leaving the scene in order to go help out at the shop.

* * *

Orochimaru walked alongside his follower, Kabuto, towards a certain town. He had received information on the whereabouts of Tsunade. If he could find her and convince her to heal Kimimaro then he could fill the spot Sakon and Ukon left vacant on the Sound Four. He could also use Kimimaro as his new host body when the time came.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru said with a smirk, "When we find Tsunade, I want you to take care of her assistant."

"I will have it done Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said with a smirk of his own.

"Tsunade won't escape me," Orochimaru said with a sinister smirk.

* * *

Naruto and Jiraiya walked down a road that led to the a town where, according to Jiraiya, Tsunade would pay constant visits to a casino. Jiraiya had told him that their search would begin there and promised to teach him a new jutsu, which he hadn't yet.

"When are you going to teach me that new jutsu?" Naruto asked with a frown.

Jiraiya sighed. "If I teach you what to do, will you stop bothering me?"

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"Fine," Jiraiya said as he walked to the nearest tree. He held up his right hand, "Watch my hand closely." Chakra gathered around Jiraiya's hand and took the form of a blue sphere of nothing but compressed chakra. "Rasengan!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he struck the tree with the attack. The sphere drilled into the tree before exploding, leaving a large hole on the tree.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Naruto exclaimed in excitement. The tree snapped in half and fell on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Jiraiya smirked, "In order to learn this you have to complete three steps," he explained. The sage reached into his bag and took out a balloon. Using a few hand signs, the toad sage filled the balloon with water before putting it on his hand, "In the first step you have to pop this balloon with your chakra only. When you finish this step I'll teach you the next."

"You got it, Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto said with a smile. The toad sage gave him a balloon already filled with water and the blond got to work.

Jiraiya grinned as he saw his student attempt to pop the balloon. The two begin to walk again with Naruto working on the balloon as he walked. The sage hoped that this trip wouldn't take that long. Tsunade was hard to find but if he really wanted to find her then he would do so in a few days. He wished that the trip would be uneventful but knowing his luck that wouldn't happen.

**Ch. 10 End**

**This is the end of this chapter. I'll update soon so don't worry about me taking forever. As you can see there will be a lot of changes in this arc and the following ones also. I hope you liked this chapter and thank you for reading.**


	11. The Red Clouds Appear

**I bring a new update today. Thanks to those who reviewed and added this story to their favorites or alerts. Now I'll answer some of the questions you left me: **

**Yes, Naruto does hate using the fox's chakra but he's willing to learn how to use it in order to protect his friends. Times when he uses this chakra will be pretty scarce and due to his training with it, he won't be taken over by the fox.**

**I know that the Sennin Arc has been done before but trust me when I say that it will be nothing like the canon one. I don't want to reveal much but you just have to wait and see **

**The Rasengan doesn't have a nature, but you can add one to it. There's a probability of Ino learning it but, again, I don't want to reveal much. Lastly, Jiraiya won't teach much to Naruto during this arc. When the two leave on their training trip he will teach Naruto a lot more than what he taught him on canon. The trip will happen in order to make the characters actually mature not like in canon where the only change was the clothes.**

**Also, if you're looking for a visual of what Naruto looks like with the Chunin vest then look at my profile picture. Now onto the story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

**Ch. 11 The Red Clouds Appear**

It had been three days since Naruto had gone with Jiraiya and things were looking great for the blond. He was already trying to do the second step of the Rasengan training, which consisted of making a rubber ball explode with chakra. The first step had been finished in only two days since Naruto already knew how to mold and shape chakra from all his training with wind manipulation. Jiraiya had been impressed and showed him the second step a few hours later.

Naruto was bored of walking down the same long road and wondered why they didn't just run all the way there. He knew that Jiraiya was capable of doing it but wondered why he chose not to. He guessed that the sage wanted to give him more time to train on the Rasengan but he knew that it wouldn't be the only reason for taking their time getting there. The blond sighed, he was bored out of his mind. He was still trying to do the second step of the training but seeing the same scenery for days irritated him.

"When will we get there, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked with a whine. He put the rubber ball away and crossed his arms, "We've been on the same road for days, shouldn't we be there by now?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Seriously kid, can't you shut up for a few minutes?" The sage rubbed his head and closed his eyes, "You've been pestering me on the same thing for hours and I keep telling you that we'll-"

"Get there, when we get there," Naruto interrupted with a pout, "That's getting annoying sensei."

"Just quiet down already," Jiraiya said with a groan, "We're almost there alright?"

Naruto smiled. "Why didn't you say so in the first place!" The blond cheered and chuckled, "If we get to the village then that means that I won't have to eat your cooking anymore!"

"What's wrong with my cooking?" Jiraiya asked with a smile, "I can't be that bad..." Getting only a blank stare as a reply, Jiraiya face faulted, "You don't have to be so blunt about it kid."

Naruto rolled his eyes and focused back on the rubber ball. He hadn't made any progress on it and tried to think of what was wrong. Like with the water balloon, he had been spinning chakra in all directions but nothing seemed to happen. _'Maybe if I add more chakra to spin, the ball will pop,' _the blond thought.

With a determined look in his eye, Naruto poured chakra into the ball. Now came the hard part, spinning the chakra. He had always had trouble with controlling large amounts of chakra, he assumed that every ninja had this problem and blamed it on his bad chakra control. The blond spun the chakra in all directions and closed his eyes in concentration. The rubber ball began to shake lightly before shaking uncontrollably almost instantly.

Jiraiya watched Naruto with an analyzing eye. The blond was close to popping the rubber ball but the last push was always the hardest. He was proud of his new apprentice, Naruto was proving to be quite capable. _'He'll get far,' _Jiraiya thought with a proud smile.

'_Come on,' _Naruto focused on spinning the chakra and soon heard a small deflating sound. He opened his eyes and saw that he had made a small hole on the rubber ball. _'I'm still not getting it,' _he thought with a frown, _'But at least I made some progress.'_

"That was good Naruto," Jiraiya said with a grin. The blond grinned back and scratched the back of his head, "Take a rest and continue your training later."

"I can still go," Naruto argued with a frown that soon turned into a smile when he saw a village in the distance, "We're here! It was about time!"

Jiraiya nodded. "I should get some information on Tsunade's whereabouts here," the toad sage said with his arms crossed, "When we get there I'll need to go see my contacts alone."

Naruto nodded with a smile, "Do whatever you want. When I get there, I plan on finding the nearest ramen stand!" The blond couldn't take it anymore and ran off towards the village.

Jiraiya watched the blond leave with a frown, "Too bad he already left," he said with a sigh, his money reserves were low and he had seen how full Naruto's wallet looked, "I might as well get going."

* * *

"Aren't you glad to be back home?" asked a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds, his face was covered by a straw hat and there was a wrapped sword strapped to his back.

"I have closed all ties with that place. Don't ask meaningless questions Kisame," said another man wearing a similar attire to the first, "Let's just execute our mission."

"It's a shame we can't capture the nine-tails yet," Kisame said with a grin visible on his face, "I don't understand why we have to monitor its progress."

"It is always better to be prepared. Since we are unable to seal the nine-tails at the moment we have make sure he doesn't surprise us when the time comes," the man raised his face to see Konoha only a few minutes awake. The sharingan could be seen under the shadow of the straw hat and the man began to walk, "Let's go Kisame."

Kisame followed after Itachi with a smirk on his face. He hoped to find a person he could fight, it had been far too long since he last fought someone of high lever. Konoha was known for its strong ninjas and Kisame looked forward to fighting some of those ninja.

* * *

"Come on Naruto!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he threw a punch.

The blond ducked under the strike and countered with a kick. Jiraiya blocked the kick with his knee and delivered a punch to Naruto's face, making the blond cry in pain. The blond fell on the ground but rolled to the side when he saw Jiraiya's leg about to stomp him. Naruto stood back up and jumped in the air when he took note of Jiraiya's fist going towards him.

Naruto flipped in the air and landed on the ground with a crouch before leaping towards the sage. The blond threw a punch but his eyes widened when Jiraiya simply leaned to his right to avoid the attack. He was helpless as he sailed through the air and received a hard blow to the ribs for his mistake.

Naruto got the wind knocked out of him and plummeted to the ground. "I told you not to charge in like an idiot!" Jiraiya scolded with a frown. It had been three days since they arrived at their destination and had been staying in a hotel. There was not much information on Tsunade so Jiraiya met with a few of his contacts and had them see what they could find in neighboring villages. The two had been training on Naruto's taijutsu for the past two days and because Jiraiya's contacts were gathering information on Tsunade, the sage didn't have anything to do. Since they were stuck in town until his contacts were back, Jiraiya had decided to help Naruto improve his taijutsu. Naruto's training consisted of spars with nothing but taijutsu. This had been going on for two days and Naruto was learning fast, "A shinobi must always keep a cool head when in battle, remember that."

Naruto groaned as he got into a kneeling position. His ribs were in pain and he felt exhausted. The blond managed to smile despite himself, this was one of the things Naruto actually liked about training with Jiraiya, the sage didn't go easy on him. "Got it… Jiraiya-sensei," he responded through pants. He tried to stand but winced at the pain on his ribs.

Jiraiya grinned, he was impressed with Naruto's progress in taijutsu. "That was good you're improving kid," the sage said as he extended a hand to Naruto. The blond looked at the hand oddly before breaking into a grin and taking it. Jiraiya helped him stand up and sighed, "Why do you always have to charge in like that? I keep telling you not to do that."

Naruto chuckled. "Sorry sensei I won't do it again," he said with a grin, "Let's go one more time. I'm sure this time I won't mess up!"

"We're done for today Naruto," Jiraiya said, "You look kind of tired and took a hard blow on the ribs."

The blond frowned. "You just want to go out with random women again, don't you?" Naruto deadpanned. Receiving no response from the older ninja, the blond sighed, "Fine I'll go back to the hotel since I still have to finish the Rasengan."

"That's the spirit kid!" Jiraiya cheered with a perverted smile.

"Whatever," Naruto sighed out as he walked towards the village. He might have sounded down but he was actually looking forward to his training. He was already working on the third and final step and it proved to be the hardest. It consisted of spinning chakra inside an empty balloon without popping it.

"Remember not to use clones!" Jiraiya yelled from afar before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto frowned. It was completely unfair. He had actually made a Rasengan, not perfect but still a Rasengan, with the aid of a clone. Jiraiya had been impressed but told him to stop using the clone, his reason being he wanted Naruto's chakra control to improve and the Rasengan would do so.

"Freaking pervert," Naruto muttered with a pout.

* * *

Kakashi was unconscious on the bed of his apartment. The room was filled with the Jonin that knew Kakashi closely. Gai sat on a chair inside of Kakashi's room. Asuma leaned against a wall with Kurenai by his side. All had seen Kakashi going down and decided to take care of him while he woke up.

"How long will he be out?" Kurenai asked. She had arrived at the apartment after Kakashi had already been brought there since she had gone to report to the Hokage.

Gai sighed. "We're not sure," he began, "The doctors say that he is exhausted and has suffered severe damage from Itachi's attack."

"Why did they attack on broad daylight?" Kurenai asked in worry.

"I can think of some reasons," Asuma said with a serious face, "They said that they came for Naruto for whatever purposes they have, if Itachi is with them then that means that they are powerful. By attacking in broad daylight they show that they are not afraid to be noticed. I say that they were trying to intimidate us."

"That might be it," Gai agreed, "Itachi and… um. That… other guy probably wanted to intimidate us."

'_This is bad,' _Asuma thought with a frown, _'Just how strong are these guys. They took down Kakashi with a single attack. What the hell would someone like them want Naruto?"_ The Jonin thought back on the fight, trying to find anything that revealed their true motives.

_-Flashback-_

_Asuma and Kurenai stood in front of Kakashi. They were winded and faced the two missing ninja wearing black cloaks. Kisame's straw hat was gone, revealing his shark-like face, while Itachi looked at the Jonin with a calm look, his sharingan active and analyzing their every move._

"_Those cloaks…" Kakashi started. The two Jonin gave him a questioning look while Kisame broke into a grin, "You're from the Akatsuki… aren't you?"_

"_You know about us?" Kisame asked with a smirk, "And here I thought we were pretty secret."_

"_Why are you in Konoha?" Kakashi asked with a glare, already knowing what they wanted from what Jiraiya had told him._

_Kisame chuckled. "Why are we here?" The shark-like man smirked, "We're here for the f-"_

"_That is not of your concern," Itachi interrupted._

"_If you're here for Naruto then know that I will not allow you to take anyone from my team," Kakashi said with a glare._

_Itachi looked into Kakashi's eyes with a calm expression. Sharingan met sharingan but Itachi's began to change. Kakashi's eyes widened before he fell to his knees. Asuma and Kurenai ran to Kakashi's kneeling form and checked for any wounds. _

_Asuma saw movement out of the corner of his eye and froze when he saw Kisame's blade inches away from Kurenai's head. Kurenai watched the blade inch closer to her second by second. She thought it was her end but a green blur kicked Kisame away. The Akatsuki member sailed through the air before crashing on the ground. Before everyone stood the mighty beast of Konoha, Gai._

"_Well Kakashi, it seems that you've lost," Gai said with a light chuckle, "Not to worry my rival, I am here to help you."_

"_Damn you," Kisame growled as he stood up, "I'll kill you for this."_

"_Kisame," Itachi said sternly, "We will cause a lot of noise if we fight them here. Soon we'll have all of Konoha after us, it is best that we leave."_

"_Damn," Kisame said with a frown before turning to Gai with a smirk, "I'll get you back for this. Remember this: Kisame will kill you." With that the two Akatsuki members left in a swirl of leaves, leaving a panting Kakashi that barely held consciousness. _

"_You alright Kakashi?" Asuma asked in concern for his fellow ninja._

_Kakashi eye-smiled as he covered his sharingan. "I'll be alright," he said, "Just make sure to tell the… Hokage… that the red clouds appeared…" Unable to handle the fatigue, the copy ninja fainted. _

_-End Flashback-_

"What did the Hokage say Kurenai?" Asuma asked.

Kurenai frowned. "When I told them that the red clouds appeared he looked very worried," the genjutsu mistress started, "He dismissed me but I heard him call for the ANBU. Isn't that a bit too much?"

Gai shook his head. "When it comes to It-" Asuma motioned Gai to keep quiet. Gai threw him a confused look before the door began to open.

Sasuke entered the room with a frown on his face. "Kakashi I need you to…" the Genin stopped himself when he saw everyone on Kakashi's room and a bedridden Kakashi, "Why are you here? What the hell happened?"

The Jonins threw each other worried glances before a Chunin wearing glasses entered the room. "Is it true that Itachi returned to the village! And that he was after Naruto!"

"Damn," Asuma muttered with a frown.

Sasuke's eyes widened before he ran out of the room at full speed. "What bad timing," Gai said with a frown.

Sasuke ran through Konoha with a furious look on his face. _'Why did that bastard come here? Why is he after Naruto? I'll kill you… Itachi!'_

* * *

"Come on," Naruto muttered with his eyes closed in deep concentration. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and a balloon was held on his right hand. He felt the Rasengan close to completion, it would only take him a few more minutes. All that training with the wind manipulation was really paying off now.

The balloon shook uncontrollably before calming down. Naruto's heartbeat rose, he almost had it. He began to shape the chakra into a ball and add more onto it. Bit by bit he would add chakra to it and it was finally about to work. All those long hours of training had brought him to this point. He steadied the chakra and felt the Rasengan become more stable, he was about to finish it!

_'Knock, Knock'_

Naruto's head snapped towards the door and heard the distinct sound of a pop. His pupils dilated and he turned back to the balloon, where only parts of it remained. A cold breeze fell over Naruto and his face darkened. The blond made his way to the door with a dangerously calmed expression on his face.

The blond reached for the handle and threw open the door. "WHAT!" Naruto spat with venom on his voice. He glared at the two who had interrupted a Rasengan breakthrough.

Kisame laughed. "We've got ourselves a feisty one," the Akatsuki member said with an amused smirk. Naruto's eyes widened when he looked at Itachi, he looked exactly like Sasuke and the sharingan was active on his eyes.

"W-who are you?" Naruto asked in slight fear.

"Itachi!" Sasuke's voice was heard from the hallway. Naruto turned to see Sasuke glaring at Itachi with hate on his eyes and sharingan active.

"He looks like you," Kisame said in amusement, "Do you know this kid?"

Itachi nodded. "He's my younger brother," he said calmly, giving Sasuke a glance, "Have you gotten stronger? Have you had enough hate?"

"I'll kill you!" Sasuke screamed as he charged up a Chidori and charged recklessly at Itachi. The Akatsuki member didn't move from his spot as Sasuke approached him. The Genin grinned inwardly, the fool would die today.

Sasuke's eyes widened when Itachi appeared before him and held his left wrist, breaking the attack. "You're weak," he said in disgust before punching Sasuke on the stomach. The Genin spat out blood and could do nothing as Itachi held him by the neck and slammed him on the wall. "You lack hatred," Itachi said as he leaned to Sasuke's ear, "You haven't gotten any stronger. You need more hatred to kill me." Sasuke gasped in fear when he saw the all too familiar Mangekyou sharingan forming on Itachi's eyes.

Naruto watched as his friend's body went limp. Sasuke began to trash around and scream in pain as if he were in a nightmare. Naruto had been weak again, his friend was suffering because he had been too weak. The blond glared at the two Akatsuki members. They would pay for what they did to Sasuke.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Countless copies of Naruto filled the hotel causing the two Akatsuki members to be pushed back by the sheer numbers.

"You won't escape kid!" Kisame exclaimed with a smirk. He used his sword to dispel all nearby clones while Itachi ran through hand signs.

A large fireball filled the hallway and torched all the Naruto clones. Smoke filled the hotel and when it cleared there was no sign of Naruto or Sasuke for that matter. "He managed to trick us," Itachi said with a frown, "We were fools to have underestimated a Jinchuuriki."

"Let's go after the bastard," Kisame said with a smirk as the two Akatsuki members left the scene.

* * *

Naruto ran through the village next to one of his clones that had Sasuke on its back. He was looking for Jiraiya since he would be the only one that could help him. There was a chance that the villagers would get hurt by any crossfire so he avoided running through streets, choosing to jump rooftops. He would be spotted easily but he didn't want any unnecessary casualties.

Naruto stopped mid-step when he saw a black cloak blocking his view. He received a backhand and crashed against a ceiling, feeling bits of rocks dig into his skin. He held his right arm in pain as he stood up slowly. His eyes widened when he saw both Akatsuki members standing where he had been only moments ago. The clone carrying Sasuke jumped to his side and looked at the two missing ninja in fear.

"Come with us Naruto," Itachi said in a calm voice, "You have our word that Sasuke won't be hurt if you come with us without making a scene."

"A scene?" Naruto asked with a light smirk, "Like this one!" The blond ran through hand signs and put a hand to his mouth. A powerful gust came out of his mouth knocking over antennas and roof tiles.

The two Akatsuki members disappeared from view. Naruto took in all of his surroundings, looking for anything that told him where the two were. A light flash of black caught his attention and he jumped from where he was. Kisame's sword crashed against the spot where Naruto had only been seconds ago.

"Not bad kid," Kisame complimented with a smirk, "But you forgot someone."

Naruto, still airborne, looked to his side to see a fireball approaching him. The blond ran through hand signs and put a hand to his mouth. _'Wind Style: Air Bullets!' _The air bullets clashed against the fireball, creating a powerful explosion. The blond was blown aside and landed on the hard floor of a street.

Naruto felt his left arm completely numb and his back was throbbing in pain. Somehow the blond managed to smirk and look at the Akatsuki members defiantly. Itachi and Kisame jumped down from the roofs and landed in front of Naruto. Kisame smirked at the look Naruto had on his face, the kid was just too entertaining, that defiant look on his face only added to the amusement.

"Y-you idiots," Naruto muttered as he got on his hands and knees. The blond panted at the sheer effort it took. He supported himself with his right leg and began to stand, slowly but surely. Naruto swayed slightly but managed to stand and give the two Akatsuki members a weary grin, "I got Sasuke to safety while you were focused on me. You'll never get him."

"Who said we were after him?" Itachi said, making Naruto give him a confused look, "We were looking for you all this time… well that's not right. We came for the nine-tails sealed within you. Sasuke only got caught in the crossfire."

"W-what?" Naruto gasped in shock. Sasuke had gotten hurt because of him. He was to blame for the wounds Sasuke had taken.

"Let's go nine-tails," Kisame said with a smirk. The missing ninja charged at Naruto but was suddenly knocked away by a white blur. _'Why does this keep happening?' _Kisame thought as he crashed against the ground. He stood up shakily, soon after, and glared at the newly arrived men.

"Jiraiya the Toad Sage," Itachi stated.

Jiraiya frowned. "So you're the Akatsuki," he said. He gave a quick glance to Naruto to make sure he was okay, pleased to see that it was only minor wounds he turned back to the Akatsuki, "You're looking for Naruto, I take it."

"What do we do?" Kisame asked Itachi with a frown, "This is the situation we were trying to avoid."

"We'll have to pull back," Itachi responded, "It's not smart to take one of the legendary three, the risks are too great."

"You won't be going anywhere," Jiraiya said as he ran though hand signs, "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" The ground beneath the two Akatsuki's feet turned to mud and they began to sink. Kisame growled and flailed while Itachi calmly stood where he was. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" An engulfing ball of fire came out of Jiraiya's mouth and crashed into the two Akatsuki members.

Naruto looked at the attacks in awe, Jiraiya was truly powerful even if he acted like an idiot. The mud disappeared and the flames dispersed revealing two burnt bodies. The blond's eyes widened when he saw them. Where Itachi and Kisame had been were now two unknown ninja with Sand Village headbands.

Jiraiya walked to the bodies to inspect them. _'It appears that they used a kind of puppetry,' _Jiraiya observed, _'From the looks of things, they were able to transfer their chakra into them and create less powerful copies of themselves. The real question here is, from how far could they control them?'_

"Master Jiraiya!" Jiraiya turned away from the bodies to see a squad of ANBU standing in front of Naruto, "We were ordered to contact you by the Third Hokage."

Jiraiya nodded. "Tell the Hokage that the red clouds made a move but Naruto is safe," the sage ordered, "The Uchiha got hurt take him back to the village."

One of the ANBU nodded and slung Sasuke over his shoulder. The squad nodded to Jiraiya once more before disappearing in blurs. Once they were gone Jiraiya sighed, he hated giving orders, that's one of the reasons why he declined the position of Hokage by the Third.

"You okay kid?" Jiraiya asked with a proud smile. Naruto smiled lightly and nodded, "We'll go to another hotel so you can rest. If you're healed by tomorrow we'll keep moving, I got a lead on Tsunade."

Naruto grinned. "That's great I'll get healed in no time," he said without his usual cheerfulness, "Hey Jiraiya-sensei, I almost mastered the Rasengan today."

"Really?" Jiraiya asked with a grin.

"Yeah," Naruto responded with a smile, "If it hadn't been for those two I would've gotten it."

Jiraiya nodded, watching his disciple sway slightly. He was probably exhausted from his encounter with the Akatsuki and had been lucky to have both of them taken it easy on him. It was still surprising for the blond to still be standing.

Naruto's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell lifelessly to the ground. Jiraiya caught him before he fell and slung him over his shoulder. "I guess it was too much for you," Jiraiya said with a chuckle as he walked to the nearest hotel.

* * *

Rumors spread through Konoha fast. Saying how the traitor Itachi had come back to Konoha to kill Sasuke and Naruto. Some villagers were worried about Naruto while others remained indifferent. Ever since the attack on Konoha, Naruto had been viewed as a hero by a portion of the villagers. They were worried about how Naruto would fare against the traitor Uchiha who slaughtered his own clan.

This news reached the sharp ears of Ino. She was making her way to the barbeque restaurant where her team would usually meet. She wanted to talk to her teammates about the danger Naruto was in. Ino entered the restaurant and saw Choji stuffing his face on a corner table, sitting next to an annoyed Shikamaru.

"Hey guys, I've got something important to talk to you about," Ino said with a sense of urgency on her voice.

Shikamaru glanced at Ino before sighing. "I know what this is about. Considering the fact that you look so worried, I take it you heard about Naruto," he said with a groan. It wasn't that Naruto wasn't his friend, it was just that the blond would get in way too much trouble, "Don't worry about it. I heard that Naruto is traveling with a legendary ninja so he should be okay."

Ino shook her head with a frown. "Jiraiya won't always be in the village. Who's to say that Itachi won't look for him again?" she asked a little angry, "Not even three Jonin could defeat him."

Choji chewed his food and glanced at Ino. "What do you… think we should do? We can't do… much," he said while chewing on his food.

"He's right," Shikamaru said with a frown, "It's not like we can do anything against ninja that powerful."

"Why not get stronger?" Ino asked with a determined expression. Naruto had taught her that determination was an important factor to being a ninja and she had taken those words to heart, seeing how much Naruto had improved in only a month, "We could train harder to be able to help Naruto in the future. I'm not saying that we'll be strong enough in a few months but maybe we could be able to help him if we train hard enough."

Shikamaru sighed. "That's too much work Ino," he said, "What if Itachi and whoever came with him are dealt with before we could help. I don't want to do any extra training."

Ino glared at Shikamaru. He wasn't willing to help Naruto because it was too much work, when Naruto did nothing but help. Naruto trained like a maniac to protect his friends and Shikamaru just ignored it like it was no big deal. "What's wrong with you!" Ino snapped with angry tears on her eyes. Shikamaru and Choji looked taken back by the outburst, "Naruto's always helped you even when he was the one that needed the most help! He suffered for years and would risk anything to help us, how can you turn your back on him?"

A few tears rolled down Ino's cheeks causing Choji to stop eating. "Ino's right Shikamaru," he said with a serious expression, "You remember how he was when we were kids right? He would be happy around us but as soon as time to go home came Naruto would only stare at us in sadness. Even though he looked sad he would always help us with anything we needed. What's a few rounds of extra training going to do to us? I'm willing to train twice as hard!"

Shikamaru sighed watching his teammates. He never said that he wouldn't help Naruto, he just didn't want to train even harder. "You're starting to sound like Lee, Choji... fine," he said with a small smirk. Ino and Choji smiled at their teammate, "I guess if you too will get more training done I'll probably get dragged into it. I would rather agree now than be annoyed later."

"Thank you guys," Ino said with a smile.

Shikamaru nodded with an annoyed look on his face. Training would only get more troublesome from now on. One thing was for certain, a certain blond would owe him big for this.

* * *

"Let's get going!" Naruto cheered with a smile. He was back to one hundred percent after a good night's sleep, "Let's go before the old lady disappears!"

Jiraiya got a panicked look on his face. "Don't be an idiot!" he scolded. Naruto gave him an odd look, causing the Toad Sage to sigh, "Take my warning. Do. Not. Call. Tsunade. Old."

"Why not? Wasn't she as old as you?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Jiraiya shuddered remembering the last guy who called Tsunade old. "Just don't call her that trust me," he dug into his coat and took out a balloon before handing it to Naruto, "Here, work on the last step and don't use clones."

"Got it," Naruto said with a smile. He filled the balloon with air and got to work. He would have the Rasengan down in no time.

**Ch. 11 End**

**I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I kept on adding scenes before taking them off until I was semi-glad with how the chapter turned out. I know some of you are like, 'Dude what the hell? Itachi and Kisame could have slaughtered Naruto in a second.' I know this is the case but the two were not ordered to kill or capture Naruto, they were ordered to watch his progress. They simply said that they would take him to cause Naruto to fight them seriously. **

**Enough of my rant. Here's some important info: the next chapter will be released on next Monday or Tuesday. The chapter after that will be released around Wednesday or Thursday so don't worry about updates taking too long. That is all for today, I hope you liked this chapter and thank you for reading.**


	12. Tsunade's Dilemma

**I bring a new chapter today. I'm glad you liked the last one since I wasn't too sure about it. This is the one month anniversary of my story, I'm so glad and thanks to all of those who read this story. Next chapter will be up by Thursday, as scheduled. Now I'll answer some of the questions you guys left me.**

**Itachi didn't go to Konoha to show that he was alive on this story. I plan on having the Akatsuki act more discretely by gathering information before attacking. You'll see this on the sequel of this story. ****Naruto will not add a nature to the Rasengan for the time being simply because he doesn't have the overall skill to do it at the moment and it would overpower him, which is something I don't want. ****Like I said last chapter I was never sure on Ino learning the Rasengan. Right now I'm leaning towards having her have an original jutsu that only she could use, but it's not a sure thing yet.**

**All other questions will be answered on this chapter so let's get on with it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Search for Tsunade Arc**_

**Ch. 12 Tsunade's Dilemma**

Naruto walked through the busy streets with a smile on his face. He had been persuaded to buy a lottery ticket by an old sweet lady and he had won. Now Gama was full and happy. All he had to do now was hide this fact from Jiraiya since the perv had a knack for stealing his money. He didn't understand why he just took the money from him, if he was as big of a success as he claimed then why did he need to steal from a thirteen-year-old. Thankfully ever since they had arrived to the village where Tsunade was said to be, Jiraiya had left him alone to focus on his search for Tsunade. Naruto didn't mind Jiraiya's absence but he had a feeling that Jiraiya wasn't just looking for Tsunade, knowing his sensei he was probably out on bars stalking woman.

It had been five days since the Akatsuki attacked Naruto. Naruto and Jiraiya had arrived on the village only two days prior meaning that Jiraiya had been looking for Tsunade for the past three days. The first thing Naruto noticed about the village was that it was old. It was filled with old buildings but they were still in good state, unlike his apartment complex. The second thing he noticed was that the village was way too crowded. There were houses almost everywhere and the streets were filled with shops and stands making it look like there was a kind of festival going on. Regardless, Naruto thought that it was a nice village.

"What now?" Naruto asked himself with a sigh. He took out a balloon and filled it with air before putting it on his right hand. He held it as he walked with a slight look of concentration. Inside of the balloon was a perfect ball of chakra meaning that the third step had been mastered.

It had only taken Naruto two days since the Akatsuki's attack to learn the last step. Jiraiya was impressed and told Naruto to practice more with the Rasengan so that it would come naturally to him. The sage still had spars with Naruto but had now allowed the use of ninjutsu. Jiraiya had also told Naruto to use his jutsu in creative ways, meaning that he had to find more uses for it rather than just attacking. The Chunin thought that he was improving and couldn't wait to get home and show Ino all of his progress.

Naruto smiled at the thought of Ino. She had accepted him for who he was and didn't fear him because of the fox. He hadn't known until then just how much Ino meant to him. The thought of losing her terrified him for reasons he didn't know. The blond wondered what Ino was doing at the moment. She could be in the middle of a mission at the moment or maybe helping her parents with the shop.

'_It's so boring without Ino here,' _Naruto thought as he continued to walk through the busy streets.

* * *

Back in Konoha a blonde was having similar thoughts. Ino was sitting behind the counter of her parent's flower shop. She didn't understand why they didn't hire workers since they were out almost every day but she was still glad to help them out. There weren't many people going into the shop which led to Ino getting bored, which led to her mind to wonder, which led to her thinking about Naruto.

It had been a week since he was gone and she was getting a little worried. She knew it was stupid to worry for her friend, he was with a legendary ninja after all, but she couldn't help but feel worried. Naruto had become a very dear friend and she would be crushed if she found out something happened to him. He was being targeted by Itachi of all people, a traitor who was even stronger than a Jonin.

'_Bad thoughts, bad thoughts! Naruto's okay and he'll come back in no time,' _Ino reassured herself, _'He has to see how much I've improved.'_

True to her word, Ino along Choji and Shikamaru had kicked up their training. They now met for training whenever they had time off and train for a few hours. Shikamaru would be the first one to leave after two hours saying that it was too troublesome. Choji would leave next since his he was needed at home, he never said why exactly but he still left. Ino would train after the others left and was starting to show improvement.

Ino's water control had improved and she had been given two scrolls by Asuma. They contained water jutsu that she was still learning to master. Kurenai would visit the team often and had taught Ino how to use more genjutsu and how to get out of them more easily. The Jonin saw much talent on Ino's genjutsu and planned on teaching her more as time went by.

All was going great for Ino but she still missed Naruto. Things had been quiet since he left and she found herself missing the days when the two of them would just walk around the village. She really hoped that he would be back soon so they could go out again. She didn't think that it was odd to think of a friend like this since that's probably how everyone acted when they missed a friend.

* * *

Orochimaru sat on his throne. He had a smirk on his face, everything was going great. He had been able to find Tsunade without a problem and had outsmarted her by angering her. It had been slightly difficult to convince her to heal Kimimaro, however, but she would be doing so in the end. For now he would wait, he had given Tsunade a week to meet him and he had no doubt that she would do so.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru called.

Kabuto appeared in a puff of smoke in a kneeling position, "What is it Lord Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru smirked. "Tell me how she's doing," he began, "Is she being defiant?"

"Not at all," Kabuto answered as a smirk made its way to his face, "Due to my medications she has been rather quiet."

Orochimaru chuckled with an amused smile. "My, my. To think all of this could have been avoided if Tsunade had just agreed to come with me."

Kimimaro would soon be healed, giving his forces a boost. If he played his cards right then he would have Sasuke by the end of the month. The sharingan would at last be his and the destruction of Konoha would be a sure thing. Yes, everything was going great indeed.

* * *

Jiraiya frowned as he walked back to the hotel. It was now dark outside and there was still no sign of Tsunade. He knew that she was around since his contacts had told him that she had only arrived about a week ago. He had been careful on being spotted by taking some precautions, like walking to the village instead of using chakra to increase his pace, all of this was necessary since Tsunade was good at spotting other shinobi. The toad sage was sure that something had happened and he would find out what.

"There you are!" came Naruto's voice. Jiraiya looked to his right side to see the blond running towards him.

"What do you want? Did something happen?" Jiraiya asked with a raised brow.

"No, nothing happened. Except you left me alone all day!" Naruto exclaimed with a frown, "Do you have any idea how boring it was. We even missed our sparring session."

Jiraiya chuckled. The kid was really something. He would act like his father one second and then act like his mother the next. "Fine kid I'll take you along next time," he said with a sigh, "Let's go eat something."

Naruto smiled almost instantly. "You should've said so in the beginning Jiraiya-sensei," he said with a smile, "Are we going to a ramen stand?"

"Are you kidding me? I've taken you there ever since we came to this village," Jiraiya said with a frown, "We're going to get something else today."

"Fine," Naruto said with a pout.

The two began to walk around the village looking for a place to eat. Naruto's eyes glimmered with hope when he saw the approaching ramen stand but that hope was lost when they walked right past it. The village was filled with all kinds of restaurants and the streets were still crowded. Naruto couldn't believe just how many people lived in the village but dismissed it when Jiraiya stopped walking.

They were in front of a bar and Naruto gave Jiraiya an odd look. "Why'd you stop Jiraiya-sensei?" he asked, "Is this the place where we're eating?"

Jiraiya smiled with his gaze on the restaurant. "Yeah," a blonde could be seen on one of the bar's booths, "This is the place."

The two entered the bar and Naruto was greeted by the smell of alcohol and smoke. The blond instantly gagged and glared at his master. Why had he brought him here? This place smelled so bad that not even ramen would be enjoyable if eaten here. The blond's eyes narrowed when he noticed that they were walking towards a blonde sitting on a booth, Jiraiya had taken him here to meet girls?

Naruto was about to complain but was interrupted by Jiraiya. "It's been a while Tsunade," Jiraiya said with a smile. Naruto's eyes widened and he looked at the kunoichi in wonder, she had been Jiraiya's teammate meaning that she was strong.

Tsunade turned an eye to Jiraiya and frowned. "What are you doing here?" she asked with anger on her voice, "Just my luck. My past decides to come back to me on the same day."

"You're saying that Orochimaru was here?" Jiraiya asked with narrowed eyes as he and Naruto sat opposite of Tsunade.

"That's what I'm saying," she growled, "That no good traitor. When I get my hands on him I'll make sure to give him a painful death."

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked with a frown.

"Why should I tell you?" Tsunade asked with narrowed eyes, "If I do, then you'll just butt in like a fool. I can handle my own business and I don't need the help of someone like you."

Naruto had had enough. Jiraiya was more than a mentor to Naruto, he was like a grandfather to him and he wouldn't allow some old lady to talk to him like that. "Listen here lady," the blond said with a frown, "I don't care if you were Jiraiya-sensei's teammate. If you ever bad mouth him in front of me again I'll kick your ass, even if you're old!"

An ominous air surrounded Tsunade and the whole bar went quiet. Jiraiya had a shocked look on his face and hoped that Naruto would come out alive. He had warned him not to mention her age at all and he just went and said it. The toad sage was glad to have Naruto defend his name but calling Tsunade 'old' was just stupid.

"What did you say?" Tsunade growled out.

"I called you an old lady, an old hag, a grandma!" Naruto exclaimed with an angry look on his face.

"Do you want to step outside?" Tsunade asked with a tick mark on her forehead.

Naruto smirked. "Do you want me to walk you there?" he asked, "Or can you still do it on your own?"

"That's it!" Tsunade exclaimed as she put a hand to Naruto's forehead and flicked her finger. Naruto went crashing out of the bar with a fuming Tsunade on his heel.

Naruto crashed against the ground with his whole head in pain. He had no idea what had happened but knew that Tsunade was indeed strong. He heard footsteps and turned around to see Tsunade walking towards him.

Tsunade scoffed and crossed her arms. "To be called out by a brat… I really must be losing my head," she said with a sigh before turning to walk towards the bar.

Not one to be ignored Naruto stood up and smirked at Tsunade. "I guess that happens to woman your age, they start to lose sense of things," Tsunade stopped on her tracks and turned to glare at Naruto, "We're not done yet you just had a cheap shot!"

Tsunade growled under her breath, she really didn't want to beat a kid senseless but if he didn't stop she would be forced to. "Just quit already kid," she said with a frown, "I'm too strong for you. You'll just end up getting hurt."

"I'll never give up!" Naruto exclaimed with a determined look on his face, "That's my ninja way!"

Tsunade's eyes widened. Memories of her dead brother hit her like a slap to the face. Seeing Naruto's determined expression she couldn't help but remember Nawaki. The two were so alike, now that she thought about it.

"That's enough Naruto," Jiraiya called out. The sage stepped out of the bar and had a serious look on his face, "We didn't come here to cause problems."

"B-but!" Naruto begin but stopped when he saw the look Jiraiya gave him, "Fine but don't expect me to apologize."

Jiraiya grinned and shook his head. "Alright kid, let's just go back inside," he turned to Tsunade and frowned, "You come too. I want to know what Orochimaru wanted. By the way you're acting I assume that it wasn't pleasant seeing him again."

"Fine," Tsunade said with a sigh as she made her way inside with Naruto and Jiraiya following behind her.

People gave the trio odd looks as they quietly sat down on the same booth. The owner of the store thought of kicking them out for their disturbance but knew better after watching Tsunade's display of strength. It was no wonder that Konoha ninja were considered the best.

"Now, tell us what happened," Jiraiya said with a tone of finality.

Tsunade nodded with a frown. "I arrived on this village about a week ago. I came with my assistant Shizune. It wasn't until today that we ran into Orochimaru and that bastard managed to fool me."

_-Flashback-_

_Tsunade and Shizune hurried out of the village. Shizune didn't know why but if Tsunade seemed agitated then things didn't look good. The legendary medic didn't want to stay another second on the village. She had won five games in a row on the local casino and she knew that it was a bad sign. Nothing good ever came when she won so it would be best to leave while she still could. The two medics turned a corner and stopped dead on their tracks. In front of them stood none other than Orochimaru. The snake summoner had a smirk on his face and crossed his arms. _

"_Orochimaru," Tsunade said the name with a growl._

"_Hello Tsunade," Orochimaru said with a chuckle, "You don't look to happy to see your old teammate."_

"_What are you doing here?" The medic asked with a snarl._

_Orochimaru smirked. "I just came here to ask for a favor," he began, "One of my ninja is suffering from a strange illness and I was wondering if you would like to heal him."_

_Tsunade glared at the snake summoner. "Do you take me for a fool?" she snapped, "I would never help you after what you did to Konoha."_

"_So you heard of my little attack," Orochimaru said in amusement, "Don't let it bother you Tsunade is not like you were there. In fact, you haven't been there since that fool died haven't you?"_

_Tsunade's eyes narrowed and her fists began to shake. "You damned traitor," she muttered before snapping her gaze to Orochimaru, "I'll kill you and save sensei the trouble!"_

_Orochimaru chuckled. "Are you that naïve Tsunade? Did you really think I would come here without a way to make you obey me?" the snake summoner ran through hand signs and slammed his hands on the ground. _

_Tsunade's eyes widened as countless of snakes came out of the ground and sprung at them. Tsunade knocked the approaching snakes aside before blocking the ones that came after them, she knocked one more snake aside and threw a glance at her assistant. Shizune was using medical jutsu to knock the snakes away before they got too close. The two continued to defend themselves against the snakes and failed to noticed another ninja making his way behind them._

_Tsunade had enough of the damned snakes and threw a punch on the ground. The ground gave out in front of her and created a small earthquake that destroyed the rest of the approaching snakes. The legendary medic glared at Orochimaru but frowned when she saw him smirk._

"_You lose Tsunade," Orochimaru said in amusement. _

_Tsunade threw another gaze at Shizune but gasped when she saw that her assistant wasn't there anymore. "Where is she?" Tsunade asked in anger._

_Orochimaru chuckled with a sick smile. "While you were busy I had my assistant take her away," he explained, "Now, what will you do Tsunade?"_

"_What do you want?" Tsunade asked in defeat._

"_You're going to heal my ninja," Orochimaru said before throwing a scroll to Tsunade, "That contains the location of one of my bases. Now to show you I'm a good person I'll give you a choice. You can either come to my base or just forget I was ever here. If choose not to show then you'll friend will suffer the consequences." With that the snake summoner melted into the ground, leaving an angry Tsunade behind._

_-Flashback-_

"That was all," Tsunade said in anger, "If I don't show up that bastard will kill Shizune."

Jiraiya nodded. Orochimaru was never one to play by the rules and taking hostages was expected of him. He didn't know why Orochimaru wanted one of his ninja healed since he is not one to care for anyone, if he cared for the well-being of someone then that meant that he planned on using that body later on.

Naruto gritted his teeth. That bastard Orochimaru was a sick man, he wouldn't get away with kidnapping an innocent person. "Let's help her Jiraiya-sensei!" the blond said with a serious expression, "Let's put a stop to Orochimaru once and for all."

"Hold on kid. Don't talk like you stand a chance against Orochimaru. He would beat you before you even get a hit on him," Jiraiya said with a frown, "We will help get Shizune back but you are not to face Orochimaru. You will leave him to me."

"Sounds like a plan!" Naruto cheered, "As long as we help I don't care if I fight or not."

Tsunade frowned. Those two idiots were one in the same. "You two can't come," she said, "If Orochimaru sees you then he'll kill Shizune before we even get there."

Jiraiya grinned. "You know you're talking to the leader of a spy network right?" he asked in amusement, "I'm more than capable of getting into Orochimaru's base undetected."

"What about the kid?" Tsunade asked with an irritated frown.

"Don't worry about him," Jiraiya said with a smile, "Naruto's my new apprentice. I'll teach him how to slip past Orochimaru. He'll be with me the whole time so I'll make sure he's undetected."

"You don't get it do you?" Tsunade snapped, "I won't put Shizune in danger! Even if the odds are with me I'll never risk Shizune's life!" With that the legendary medic left the bar with a scowl on her face.

"What are we supposed to do sensei?" Naruto asked with a worried look.

Jiraiya smiled. "Naruto you really are a hopeless case," he looked at the ceiling and let out a chuckle, "What was the thing I taught you about the ladies."

Naruto frowned, "Well I'm not sure that it appl-"

"What did I teach you?" Jiraiya interrupted.

Naruto sighed at his sensei's antics. "When a woman says 'no' it means 'yes'," the blond sighed. Jiraiya nodded at his student with a proud look on his face, making the blond scowl, "But that doesn't apply to this situation."

"Of course it does," Jiraiya argued, "Besides, isn't it our mission to bring Tsunade back to the village? How will we bring her back if we don't get Shizune back?"

"Fine," Naruto said with a sigh, "I still wanted to help this 'Shizune' person anyway."

"That's the spirit," Jiraiya said with a smile, "Now let's order some food."

Naruto got a look of disgust on his face as he looked around the bar. "Here?" he asked in alarm, "This place smells gross, let's go somewhere else."

"Not a chance," Jiraiya deadpanned.

Naruto face faulted. "Why not?" The blond argued, "There were a bunch of restaurants outside."

"I have my reasons," Jiraiya said. The sage got a perverted grin on his face when he saw a couple of ladies enter the bar, "Trust me on this kid."

The blond sighed. When Jiraiya got like this there was no stopping him. The sage really acted like a kid sometimes but at least he had been right about helping Tsunade. He wondered what kind of things Jiraiya would teach him though.

* * *

Soon four days had come and gone. During this time Jiraiya worked on teaching Naruto stealth skills while keeping a watchful eye on Tsunade. The sage knew that she would try to pull a fast one on him if he was not careful. He was glad with the progress Naruto was making and had taught him how to use his 'Invisibility Jutsu.' It was an easy jutsu since he had made it when he was only a Genin and with Naruto's reserves he was able to keep it up for a few hours.

Tsunade hurried out of the village. She knew that Jiraiya would be keeping an eye on her which is why she had left in the middle of the night. The idiot was way too stubborn and would follow her to Orochimaru's base regardless of what she said. She didn't doubt that with Jiraiya's help she would stand a better chance against Orochimaru but she couldn't risk Shizune's life, she was one of her remaining close people.

* * *

"Dammit Pervy Sage!" Naruto screamed in anger, nursing his left cheek, "Quit hitting me already!"

"I told you to be quiet!" Jiraiya exclaimed as he slapped Naruto on the back of the head.

Naruto glared at Jiraiya. "Why are we out here anyway?" The two were currently on the outskirts of the village. They were hiding among the trees of the area.

Jiraiya smiled and pointed forward. "That's why we're here." Naruto looked forward and saw Tsunade moving away from the village, it was the middle of the night so it was a little hard to spot her, "I knew she would leave without telling us. We're going to follow her until she arrives at Orochimaru's base."

"And that's when we punch her right!" Naruto asked excitingly.

Jiraiya face-palmed. "Why do you act like an idiot one second and a genius the next?" Naruto smiled and gave him a shrug, "We're just going to go to the base and stop Orochimaru before anything bad happens. I have no doubt that he'll try to do something to Tsunade."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "That bastard is the lowest of the low," he growled before looking at Jiraiya with a questioning look, "Will there be more ninja there?"

Jiraiya looked taken back. "Of course there will be," he said with a sigh, "All of those ninja are loyal to Orochimaru only so there's no reasoning with them. They will attack when we reveal ourselves to Orochimaru, I want you to kill them when they do."

Naruto froze, "K-kill them?"

"Yes," Jiraiya said with a serious expression, "With ninja like the one's we're about to face we're forced to kill."

"B-but," Naruto begin with panic on his eyes, "Isn't that a little harsh?"

Jiraiya sighed, he forgot how hard the concept of killing came to the innocent ones. "Yes Naruto you will kill them," seeing Naruto's panicked look Jiraiya continued, "You have to do it Naruto because if you don't then they'll kill you without a second thought. The ninja we'll face want nothing more than to comply to Orochimaru's wishes, meaning that they want Konoha destroyed."

"I guess," Naruto muttered with his gaze to the ground.

"Naruto," Jiraiya said in a serious voice, "We ninja fight for our village at all costs. We protect our village with our lives and are willing to kill for the well-being of the village as a whole. Look at the Fourth Hokage, he killed thousands of ninja in order to protect the Leaf Village and put an end to a war that could have killed thousands of people. In order to kill you have to harden your heart towards enemies and kill not for killing but for the village."

"I understand," Naruto said with a shaky sigh.

Jiraiya nodded. "Let's get moving or we'll lose Tsunade," the two began to leap through trees while blocking their chakra signatures, "Remember what I taught you and you'll be fine."

"Got it," Naruto said with a determined expression. This was not the time to take it easy, they were in the middle of an important mission where they couldn't afford to make any mistakes. The concept of killing was still hard for him but he would do it for the village.

'_Hang on Shizune,' _where the thoughts of the three ninja as they made their way to Orochimaru's base.

**Ch. 12 End**

**This chapter was very hard to write. I didn't know how my changes would affect the characters so I had to study them carefully. I wasn't very glad with how the chapter turned out but I guess it's because it's the only one without a fight scene in a while.**

**I hope that you liked my take on this arc. Next chapter will be coming soon so keep an eye on this story. Thanks again to all of those who reviewed and favored this story. If you have any questions feel free to ask them, thank you for reading.**


	13. Team Sarutobi ReUnites

**Here's the new chapter as promised. Thanks to those who reviewed and favored this story, you don't know how much it means to me. Now I'll answer some questions you left me:**

**I have decided to make a jutsu just for Ino. I'm thinking of applying her knowledge of mind jutsu with general attacks and making something from there. I'm not sure what it will be at the moment but I'll assure you that it will suit her just fine. Also, don't worry about me making Ino too strong. I already have a general idea of everyone's strengths and weaknesses, no character will be powerful in everything, that would only make the story boring and predictable. That is all and I hope you like this chapter. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Search for Tsunade Arc**_

**Ch. 13 Team Sarutobi Re-Unites**

Kabuto sighed as he watched Shizune's unconscious form. Tsunade's assistant was locked in a cell, with her arms cuffed to the wall. It was a real shame that Orochimaru had discouraged any type of experiments on this woman, it did make sense since Tsunade was a medic ninja and would check on Shizune the minute she got her hands on her. It was true that precautions needed to be taken when dealing with someone of Tsunade's caliber but he didn't understand why they should delay his experiments if they were going to kill Tsunade in the end.

"A real shame…" Kabuto muttered with a smirk. Shizune was a powerful ninja, she had been able to counteract the poison he put into her when she and Tsunade were busy with Orochimaru. It was a tricky plan to pull but it was thanks to the senbon's small size that the plan succeeded. If only he could experiment on someone so close to his own power, then he would gain the strength he needed.

Kabuto chuckled. "Who knows? I might be able to make Lord Orochimaru keep her," he said before leaving the holding cell with a smirk on his face.

* * *

Tsunade panted, it had been a long time since she had ran for so long using chakra and it was straining her body. She stood in front of a cave and held a paper with the location of the base on her right hand. This was the place where Shizune was being held, this was Orochimaru's base and she would kill the bastard for threatening Shizune's life. She didn't have many things left and she would be damned if anybody took them away.

She prepared to enter but was stopped by two Sound ninja with masks covering their faces, they wore outfits similar to that of the ANBU and she guessed that Orochimaru had his own kind of ANBU squad. She didn't know how powerful they were but she knew that they were not the level of Konoha's, it was a given since he hadn't been able to deal a powerful blow to the village.

"State you're business," one of the masked ninja said in a threatening tone.

"I was told to come here by Orochimaru," Tsunade responded, "I am Tsunade."

The two got quiet for a minute until one of them stepped towards her. "Very well, I will take you to lord Orochimaru," he said as he took out a chakra suppressing seal, "You are to wear this if you wish to enter."

Tsunade snarled. "I won't put that damned thing on!" she snapped with anger on her eyes, "He should be grateful I came here."

The masked ninja growled and took out a kunai, "Listen you, this is not your petty little village. You are to follow our rule-"

"Is there a problem here?" came a voice from inside the cave. The two masked man instantly froze and kneeled down.

"N-not at all Lord Kabuto," answered one of the ninja, "She just disagreed to put on a chakra suppressing seal."

Kabuto sighed and stepped out of the cave. "You two should show more respect to Lady Tsunade. She was Lord Orochimaru's teammate after all," he said with a frown. The two man froze and stood still, knowing that the slightest movement might get them killed. Kabuto was the second in command and he would use Sound ninja for his experiments if angered, "Come with me Lady Tsunade, I assure you that you will be treated with respect."

Kabuto gave Tsunade a fake smile and motioned for her to follow. Tsunade frowned but followed after Orochimaru's assistant, he was a strange one and she found him to be very similar to Orochimaru. She would play along for now, she still needed to get Shizune out of there and meeting with Orochimaru was the only way she could.

* * *

Jiraiya and Naruto watched Tsunade enter the base from afar. They were hidden among the trees and kept their chakra levels low as not to be spotted. The two Sound ninja went back to their spots and guarded the base, unknowingly giving the two Leaf ninja a perfect angle in which to strike.

Naruto turned to his master a little uncertain, still having trouble with the idea of killing. Jiraiya turned to his student and raised three fingers, indicating when they would strike. The blond's heart beat rose in nervousness, he knew that he must kill the target or else the whole plan would become exposed and Shizune would be killed. He was a ninja and couldn't afford to let his emotions ruin the mission. The blond hardened his emotions and got ready for his first kill.

_Three_

_Two _

_One_

Jiraiya sprung from his hiding spot onto one of the Sound ninjas and broke his neck with a hard palm-strike to the face. The other ninja was about to alert the others but before he could a blade sliced through his throat. The last thing he saw was a pair of hardened blue eyes.

"Let's go after Tsunade but remember to keep quiet," Jiraiya said with a slight nod at Naruto's work, "Hold your invisibility jutsu until I tell you otherwise." The sage's invisibility jutsu was unique. It not only made the user invisible but it allowed others who knew the exact technique to see each other, this was done by knowing what to look for.

"Right Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto said with a nod.

The two entered the base without looking back at the two bodies. Naruto still held Asuma's blade on his right hand with transparent blood trailing down the cold metal. The blond felt remorse but oppressed it, he was in the middle of a mission and he couldn't afford to let his emotions get the best of him.

'_It's just like the others,' _Jiraiya thought, referring to the layout of Orochimaru's base. So far, all of the bases Jiraiya had been into had the same snake pattern on the floor. The bases consisted of many hallways that looked exactly the same, making it a maze of sorts. They arrived at a crossroads and Jiraiya knew that he would have to do something he didn't want. The best way to catch up to Tsunade and lend her a hand would be to split up with Naruto but that would be risky. Naruto was still shaken by his first kill, although he didn't show it, and he would probably end up running into all the dead ends of the base.

'_But is the only way we can get there on time,' _the sage thought with a frown. He stole a glance of his transparent student and saw the look of determination on his eyes. The blond was ready for whatever came at him and Jiraiya knew that he would do well.

"Naruto," Jiraiya whispered, getting the attention of said blond, "We have to split up, otherwise we won't get to Tsunade in time."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Got it," he responded, "What about any other Sound ninja we'll encounter?"

"Same rules apply," the sage responded in a serious voice, "You are to kill them if they manage to spot you, do not attract any unnecessary attention to yourself."

"Understood," Naruto said before going down the right hallway.

Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle at the blond. The kid was much like his father sometimes. Minato too would harden his emotions when forced to kill and would oppress his real emotions, he seemed depressed for days after his first kill until his future wife smacked some sense into him. It seemed that Naruto had inherited that unhealthy quality from his father. He glanced once more at Naruto before going down the left hall with a serious expression on his face, it would be a hard mission but he knew that they would pull through and hoped that someone would be there to cheer Naruto up when they returned to Konoha.

* * *

Tsunade followed Kabuto into a very large room with a giant statue of a snake glaring at the entranceway. There were wooden doors all throughout the walls and finally there was a kind of throne underneath the statue and that is where Orochimaru sat with a smirk plastered on his face. The legendary medic glared at the snake summoner, he had always been a twisted person and she wanted nothing more than to kill him on the spot.

"Glad to see you could make it Tsunade…" Orochimaru said with a chuckle, "But it seems you came a little early, I gave you a week to get here didn't I?"

"Something came up," Tsunade responded, thinking back at the meeting with Jiraiya and Naruto, "Where's Shizune?"

Orochimaru smirked. "Straight to the point as always Tsunade," the snake summoner nodded to Kabuto. The silver-headed ninja bowed before leaving the room through one of the many wooden doors, "Kabuto will bring back Shizune and the ninja I want you to heal."

"Alright," Tsunade said with a frown. There was something wrong, everything was too easy, simply heal someone and then leave like it never happened. This was not how Orochimaru acted, he was hiding something and Tsunade would make sure to watch herself.

* * *

Naruto walked through the halls of the base. He was getting annoyed with the place, every single hallway looked exactly the same. There was no telling if he was making progress or simply walking in circles. The blond was very impatient and began to contemplate the idea of swarming the place with clones.

The blond heard footsteps and leaned against the wall of the hall, to avoid bumping into whoever was approaching. The sound of footsteps got closer and he made out the outline of two people walking though the dimly lighted hallway.

'_That's…' _Naruto thought in disbelief. Kabuto, from the Chunin Exams, was walking through the hallways of Orochimaru's base as if he owned the place. A Sound ninja with white hair and an outfit similar to Orochimaru's was walking next to him with an unconscious woman on his shoulder. Kabuto and the Sound ninja turned a corner with Naruto on their trail, _'I'll get to the bottom of this.' _

* * *

Jiraiya walked through yet another hall of Orochimaru's base. The sage had made a mental map of the place and hoped that it was accurate. From what he had seen in the other bases, Orochimaru always had a main room which he would use for whatever it was he did. That certain room always had more than one way in. If there were more halls that led into that room then there was a high chance that he and Naruto would make it there eventually.

The sage had been following a mental path that would lead him into that main room, he only hoped that it was correct since he knew that he didn't have much time to waste. In one hand, Tsunade was probably face to face with Orochimaru at the moment while on the other Naruto was a time bomb, the blond was impatient by nature and would end up getting into a fight for no reason.

'_No time to lose,' _Jiraiya thought with a frown as he made his way down the hall.

* * *

Tsunade watched as a Kabuto reentered the room followed by a Sound ninja with Shizune hanging from his shoulder. "Shizune!" Tsunade exclaimed in concern as she ran to her assistant.

Orochimaru nodded at his ninja. The Sound ninja complied and set Shizune on the floor. Tsunade was instantly by her side using her medical jutsu to see if they had done anything to her.

'_There's nothing wrong with her except for the sleep serum running through her veins,' _Tsunade thought with a relieved expression.

"That was my end of the bargain," Orochimaru said with a smirk, "I want you to heal Kimimaro here."

Tsunade glared at her once teammate. "What makes you think I'll do that?" she got into a fighting position and prepared to attack, "Do you take me for a fool?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Are you that stupid Tsunade?" he smirked, "Do you really believe that you can fight me and two of my ninja while protecting an unconscious woman?"

Tsunade growled, knowing that Orochimaru was right. "Fine, I'll heal your ninja but if you try anything I'll kill you," she said with a glare.

"We don't want that, do we?" Orochimaru said with a chuckle.

* * *

Naruto stood outside a wooden door. Kabuto had gone in there a few minutes ago with the Sound ninja carrying who he assumed to be Shizune. Jiraiya had told him not to let himself known but Shizune was only a few steps away. He was sure that he stood a chance against Kabuto but knew that it would be risky fighting him while on the company of a Sound ninja. Luckily, they had left the door slightly ajar which meant that he could get in without being noticed but it would still be a great risk.

'_I have to risk it. Shizune could be getting hurt and our objective was to protect here,' _Naruto scolded himself before slowly making his way into the room.

He stifled a gasp when he saw three Sound ninja talking amongst themselves on a small table. The room was big and had the same layout as the halls. There were many tables around, he assumed that this was some kind of meeting room for the sound ninja, the blond looked around the room in an attempt to figure out what to do. He couldn't just kill them since he wouldn't be able to do it without making a hassle that would certainly alert Orochimaru of his presence.

Naruto decided to wait for the moment. The only other way out of the room was a closed wooden door. He wouldn't be able to get through it without alarming the ninja so why risk it. He would wait until his master made a move and only then would he make a move of his own.

* * *

Kimimaro's unconscious form laid on the floor with Tsunade looking over his body. The legendary medic had found the problem easily. He had apparently caught an old bacterial infection that would quickly reproduce and slowly eat the body from the inside. She was using her chakra to kill the bacteria while at the same time reconstructing the tissue that had been lost. The most difficult part was reconstructing the lungs since a small part of them were gone but she was a legendary medic after all. Overall, it was a dangerous illness but she was more than capable of healing it.

After a few minutes, Tsunade's hands stopped glowing green and she moved away from Kimimaro. "I'm done," she announced with a frown, "I'm leaving this place."

"Thank you for your help Tsunade," Orochimaru said with a chuckle. The snake summoner nodded at Kabuto and the latter stabbed his hand with a kunai.

"W-what?" Tsunade muttered. She froze seeing all the blood flow out of Kabuto's hand, the blood brought back painful memories from the past and she felt unable to move.

Orochimaru frowned in disgust. "How ridiculous being afraid of blood in your line of work is like a fisherman being afraid of fish. You have become truly pathetic due to your foolish emotions," he sneered, "Kill her."

"With pleasure," Kabuto answered as he took the bloodied kunai and charged at Tsunade.

The legendary medic couldn't move. There was too much blood around her that she felt lightheaded. No matter what she did, she wouldn't be able to dodge the attack. Kabuto raised the kunai and stabbed at Tsunade's heart. She watched as the blood covered kunai made its way to her heart and could do nothing to prevent it, the blood had terrified her beyond belief. She winced as the kunai slowly entered her skin but before it could completely enter, Kabuto was violently knocked across the room by an open palm.

"And you said you didn't need my help," Jiraiya said in his ever cheerful tone.

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya in disbelief. "W-what are you doing here?" she asked.

Jiraiya grinned. "You know me Tsunade," he chuckled and crossed his arms, "I'm not one to leave a lady by herself. What kind of person would I be then?" Tsunade managed to smile at her old teammate he had always been a fool, but a good kind of fool.

"Jiraiya," Orochimaru said with a frown on his face, "I should have known you would've trailed along."

"It's been a while Orochimaru," Jiraiya said with a frown.

* * *

A loud crashing noise was heard from the room Naruto was in and the blond watched as the three ninja prepared to charge into Orochimaru's chamber. He couldn't allow that, if his master had already moved then that meant that he had to make sure nobody interfered. He would have to kill the ninja before it was too late.

Naruto dropped his invisibility jutsu and held Asuma's blade on his right hand. The blond infused wind chakra into his blade and charged at the nearest ninja. The three Sound ninja turned at the sound of footsteps and saw a blond charging at them. Naruto jumped at one of the ninja, who could do nothing but watch as Naruto ran the blade through his torso before punching him away.

One of the Sound ninja threw a punch which Naruto easily ducked under only to see an upcoming kick. The blond brought his hands down to cover the kick before jumping off the ground to put some distance. He ran through hand signs and put a hand around his mouth. A powerful gust of wind came out of his mouth but the two Sound ninja jumped away before being hit.

Naruto smirked, they had fallen for it. He threw a kunai to each ninja but they dodged them easily, the throws had been clumsy and weak. The enemy ninja froze when the kunai stopped on their tracks and transformed into clones. The Sound ninja could do nothing as the two clones delivered a kick to their sides, making them groan in pain and knocked away from the impact. The enemy ninja crashed against each other before falling to the floor, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Naruto infused wind chakra into his blade and charged at the two ninja, his plan was a success, the ninja would die by his hand. The Sound ninja could do nothing as the blond ran through them with his blade digging deep into their torso, ending their lives. The blond looked back at the corpses of the ninja and gritted his teeth. It was getting harder to control his emotions but he would do so for the well-being of the mission. The blond ran out of the room with his blade held on his hand. The battle had started but it sounded like it was far away, he had to hurry. The blond stopped on his tracks when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. The blond cursed and used his invisibility jutsu, for now he would hide in the shadows.

* * *

Orochimaru snarled, he had been a fool for not having taken the necessary precautions but Jiraiya's appearance had been all but expected. The snake summoner analyzed the situation, Kabuto was nowhere near Jiraiya's level but he could still stall Tsunade. However, he couldn't afford to have Kimimaro hurt since he would be his next vessel after all. The best thing to do at the moment would be having Kabuto take Kimimaro away before coming back and joining the fight with Jiraiya, Tsunade was paralyzed in fear so she wouldn't pose any real threat.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru called with a frown on his face. The faithful follower turned to his lord in response, "Take Kimimaro out of here, I don't want him to get hurt. As soon as you're done with that I want you to come back."

"Will be done," Kabuto said with a nod. The medic lifted Kimimaro bridal style and broke into a run for the door.

Jiraiya frowned and ran through hand signs. "Don't think I'll let you get away so easily. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The sage brought a hand to his mouth before unleashing a fury of fire at Kabuto's retreating form.

As the attack got closer to Kabuto, thousands of snakes rose from the ground and made a strong wall in front of the Sound ninja. The fireball crashed into the wall of snakes in a powerful explosion that lit the whole room. Smoke filled the area leaving Jiraiya with no sight of either of his opponents. Suddenly, a small snake broke out of the smoke before being followed by thousands, creating a kind of giant wave.

'_Damn it,' _Jiraiya thought as he ran through hand signs. The snakes approached the sage but before they could get close, a giant wall of mud rose from the ground. One by one the snakes disappeared in puffs of smoke before the wall finally came down. As soon as the wall came down, the snakes were greeted by a giant fireball that scorched them on contact.

"You've gotten slower," Orochimaru said with a smirk as he moved to stand in front of Jiraiya, "It's a shame what time does to human bodies, is it not?"

"Tsunade," Jiraiya said as he glared at Orochimaru, "Take Shizune out of here and I'll catch up later."

"I-I can't," Tsunade responded, still frozen by the small pool of blood on the floor.

Jiraiya cursed, he knew of Tsunade's fear of blood but this was ridiculous. "Tsunade you have to leave, things will get dangerous here and Shizune will be put in danger!" he snapped, "Leave now."

"Die!" Orochimaru yelled as a snake came out of his mouth. The snake launched at Jiraiya before opening its mouth, revealing a long sharp sword.

The toad sage jumped away from the blade and ran through hand signs. "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" The ground beneath Orochimaru's feet turned to mud, throwing the sword off track.

The snake summoner snarled before breaking into a smirk and turning into a pile of mud. Jiraiya gritted his teeth, if that had been a clone then where was the real Orochimaru? The sage looked around before finding him dangerously close to Tsunade with his blade on hand.

'_Damn it!' _Jiraiya cursed as he watched the sword descend upon Tsunade.

* * *

Kabuto ran through the hallways of the base with an unconscious Kimimaro on his arms. He knew that leaving Orochimaru to fight two of the legendary sannin was a bad move. The medic planned on leaving Kimimaro in one of the infirmaries he used before going to aid Orochimaru, it would be bad to have the snake summoner die so soon.

The Sound ninja approached a wooden door and kicked it open, he couldn't waste time. He entered the room and gasped in surprise. On the floor were two dead Sound ninjas in a pool of their own blood with large cuts on their torso, killed by a blade if he had to guess. He hadn't been expecting this, Orochimaru had told him all about Jiraiya's skills and he never mentioned him using a sword meaning that he had an accomplice.

"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" exclaimed a voice. Kabuto turned to his right and saw the approaching attack, an easy dodge he mused with a smirk on his face. The Sound ninja jumped away from the attack but his eyes widened when he felt a foot connect with his back, the power behind the kick rocked his whole body making him drop his hold on Kimimaro. Kabuto was knocked against the floor while Kimimaro fell lifelessly to the floor in a loud thud.

Kabuto quickly stood up and looked around the room. There was no sign of anyone there meaning that whoever attacked was using stealth to his advantage, a smart move indeed. He watched as a figure jumped down but stayed in the shadows.

'_Got him,' _Kabuto thought with a smirk as he disappeared in a small poof of smoke. He reappeared next to the figure and his eyes widened, _'N-Naruto?' _

Naruto was taken aback by the sheer speed, it was certainly not Genin level, he had been wrong about the Sound ninja's strenght. Kabuto smirked as he used his chakra scalpel to strike the blond's heart. The attack made contact and life left Naruto's eyes. The Sound ninja couldn't help but smirk at the fool but his eyes widened when the blond broke into a grin before dispelling in a cloud of smoke.

"A clone?" Kabuto exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto appeared behind Kabuto with a swirling ball of chakra on his right hand. "Rasengan!" he yelled as he brought the attack to Kabuto's back.

Kabuto could do nothing as the attack dug into his back before launching him away from the blond in a show of pure power. The Sound ninja painfully crashed into the wall, feeling a few ribs break from the impact. He bounced off the wall and landed painfully on the ground, gasping in pain at the pain on his back and ribs.

Naruto watched as Kabuto moved a little before he stopped moving altogether. The blond turned his gaze to the unconscious Kimimaro and frowned, what should he do with him? He walked over to the Sound ninja and took out a kunai.

'_Should I kill him?' _Naruto thought as he pointed the kunai at Kimimaro's face. The ninja weapon moved towards the unconscious ninja's face, glinting slightly from the light of the room. Suddenly, a lone dripping noise echoed through the room. Naruto's head snapped up and he looked around the room, trying to find the source of the noise.

More dripping noises were heard and Naruto brought a hand to his cheek only to find it moist with tears. "W-why am I crying?" he asked himself as he turned his gaze from the unconscious ninja to the corpses around the room, "I can't hold it anymore... I-I don't want to kill anymore." Tears fell freely from Naruto's eyes, guilt from taking other lives was finally too much to bear. This pain of guilt couldn't be contained no matter how much he tried, he was turning into a murderer.

'_I know it's for my village but I won't kill him,' _Naruto thought, referring to Kimimaro. "I know I have to kill," he muttered to himself with his eyes darkened by his hair, "But I won't turn into a mindless murderer. I won't kill anyone who can't fight even if I'm asked to." The blond put the kunai away and turned to the door leading to Orochimaru's chamber, _'I'll show mercy whenever I can or else I'll go insane with all this guilt.' _With that the blond left the room in order to go to his master's aid.

Kabuto squirmed on the ground, that damned blond had improved. He had been hurt for underestimating Naruto but that would never happen again, he was an elite ninja after all. Medical chakra surged through his body, healing all of the wounds but not completely. The attacks he had taken would take time to heal.

"That damned brat," Kabuto muttered with a smirk on his face, he would have the last laugh. Naruto wouldn't get away with hurting him like this. The damned fox would die in the end and he would make sure of that.

**Ch. 13 End**

**This is the end my readers. Next chapter will come around Monday or Tuesday. The next chapter will conclude the fight with Orochimaru. Leave a question if you have any and thank you for reading.**


	14. The Renewed Tsunade

**Here's the next chapter guys. Now before I begin I would like to point out a few things. There were some reviews saying that Naruto was an idiot for making the mistakes he did; I know that it is frustrating but remember that Naruto is still young and has yet to understand the ways of the ninja world, he will make mistakes from time to time but they will lessen or completely stop as he grows older. For the questions I received, the only answer I can give you is keep reading you'll find out the answers on this chapter and the next. **

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

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**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Search for Tsunade Arc**_

**Ch. 14 The Renewed Tsunade**

'_Move Tsunade!' _Jiraiya thought as he watched Orochimaru's blade descend upon the immobilized Tsunade. The sage gritted his teeth when he saw that Tsunade was still frozen in fear and knew that she would be dead unless she did something.

"Wind Style: Wind Wave!"

Orochimaru turned his face to see a kunai speeding towards his face. The snake summoner quickly moved his head up to dodge the kunai, giving Jiraiya the perfect opportunity to take Tsunade away. The sage quickly leapt towards Tsunade before taking her hand and leading her away from the snake summoner. He would need to assure the safety of her and Shizune before going back to help Naruto.

"You won't get away!" Orochimaru yelled as a snake came out of his mouth again and sped off towards Jiraiya but before it could get far the snake was cut in half by Naruto's blade. "You!" Orochimaru spat in anger, the same brat that had ruined his plans in Konoha was about to sabotage his plans of killing Tsunade.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" Naruto yelled as a violent wind came out of his mouth, hitting Orochimaru full force. The snake summoner proved to be a legendary ninja and broke through the attack with little trouble. The blond gritted his teeth and got into his favorite hand sign, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Orochimaru frowned as thousands of Naruto copies filled the room, the damned brat was way too annoying. The snake summoner returned the snake into his mouth and took the sword on hand, he had had enough.

Naruto didn't know what else to do. He was up against a legendary ninja and was running out of options in just a few seconds. His plan was to stall Orochimaru with his clones and look for an opening though he knew that he had no chance of beating the legendary ninja. What he had to do was wait until Jiraiya got back if not then he was dead, simple as that.

"Die," Orochimaru said with a snarl as he swung the blade. Naruto was taken aback by the attack but his eyes widened when he noticed that the sword was expanding until it was about thirty feet long. With one simple swing all of the clones were dispelled leaving the real Naruto exposed to the snake summoner, "Got you."

Orochimaru appeared before Naruto in a show of pure speed, and before the blond could react he received a punch on his stomach, knocking the air out of him. The Chunin gasped in pain before being kicked on the face, the blond felt part of his jaw shatter from the power behind the kick before sailing through the air and crashing against one of the walls painfully. The blond fell limply on the ground with most of his strength gone.

Pain was all Naruto knew at the moment. His whole jaw ached horribly and blood flowed freely from his mouth, he still hadn't caught his breath from the punch on his stomach, and he had hit the back of his head against the wall, giving him a painful headache. It was no wonder that Orochimaru was considered legendary, in less than a minute he had left him in such a state.

Orochimaru chuckled in amusement. "Here I thought you would put up a little fight," he walked towards Naruto's fallen form and raised his sword, "I didn't want to kill you at first since I found you amusing but you have run my patience."

The sword descended upon Naruto. The blond couldn't do anything except close his eyes, he had no more strength to fight back and would need to do something he hated. His only choice would be to use it and in order to do it, he would need concentration. He concentrated until demonic chakra pumped through his system and his eyes snapped open.

* * *

Jiraiya and Tsunade ran through the halls of Orochimaru's base with an unconscious Shizune hanging from Jiraiya's shoulder. The sage had to find an exit quick before going back to help Naruto, he wouldn't last long against Orochimaru. He was ashamed of himself for leaving him on his own but knew that the blond wanted to buy him some time. He was brought out of his musings when he saw sunlight at the end of the hall.

"Okay Tsunade," Jiraiya said in a quick voice. He took Shizune off of his shoulder and set her gently on the ground, "I'm going back to help Naruto, you stay here!"

Before Tsunade could answer Jiraiya was already off. The sage knew he had little time to help his student and ran through hand signs. _'Looks like I have to use it,' _he thought with a frown. He slammed his hands on the ground and two small elderly toads appeared.

"What's the matter Jiraiya boy?" asked one of the toads.

"There's no time. I have to use it right now," Jiraiya said in a worried voice. The toad heard the worry and nodded at its companion. The two toads jumped onto Jiraiya's shoulders and connected to him.

Jiraiya's appearance began to change. His nose got bigger, warts appeared on his face and his eyes became toad-like. _'Hang on Naruto!' _The sage thought as he ran through the hallways in an incredible speed that made it seem as if he was a blur.

* * *

Orochimaru's sword struck the floor and his eyes widened, there was no sign of Naruto. Hearing footsteps he turned to his right to see Naruto charging at him. He slammed his hands on the ground and hundreds of snakes appeared, they all launched at the blond with their fangs bared, prepared to kill. The blond saw the snakes coming and put a hand around his mouth before making a strong wind come out of his mouth and stop the snakes on their tracks. The snakes were blown away before hitting the opposite wall and disappearing in poofs of smoke.

"This brat," Orochimaru said with a chuckle, "Is an interesting one."

Naruto glared at Orochimaru through blue slit eyes. Blue chakra with marks of red swirled around the blond. His whisker marks were darkened and his hair had grown spikier. "Wind Style…" the blond muttered with a frown. Orochimaru watched in interest as the blond took a deep breath. _'Air Bullets!" _Naruto finished in his head as he unleashed the air on his lungs and fired balls of winds at Orochimaru.

The legendary ninja dodged the first bullet with ease but frowned when he saw it make a hole through a wall, just how much power was behind that attack? He had no time to think as a barrage of wind bullets sped towards him. He easily dodged the attacks due to his speed but frowned when he noticed that the attacks were getting stronger little by little. He gazed at Naruto but raised a brow when he saw that he wasn't there anymore.

"I got you!" Naruto yelled from behind Orochimaru. The legendary ninja turned around to see Naruto charging at him with his blade on hand. His eyes widened when he saw that the blade was infused with the blue chakra and that it extended at least eight feet.

Orochimaru used his own blade to parry the attack. Naruto didn't let up though and continued to swing wildly at the legendary ninja. The snake summoner smirked as he blocked the attacks, the blond was truly interesting and would become a problem if not dealt with right now. As of now he was only testing Naruto to see how much strength was behind his unusual transformation. From the looks of it all of the blond's abilities increased but he knew that it took a toll on his body since he hadn't made a single clone since they would probably dispel the moment they were surrounded by the chakra.

'_Dammit,' _Naruto thought with a frown as a trickle of sweat ran down his face, _'I'm already pushing it as it is. If this keeps up I'll end up with no more chakra.' _The blond jumped away from Orochimaru and ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" Orochimaru watched as a powerful wind came out of Naruto's mouth and noticed that he had infused it with that same chakra.

"That's enough for now," Orochimaru said with a smirk as he made a mud wall to block the attack. The wind crashed against the mud wall but didn't cause as much as a scratch.

"Damn," Naruto muttered once his attack died down. He was panting now and his enhanced chakra was starting to disappear. He watched as the mud wall went down to reveal a smirking Orochimaru. The blond hadn't been able to land a single blow on the legendary ninja and couldn't help but feel fear towards the snake summoner.

"Looks like you're out of that chakra," Orochimaru said with a smirk.

'_What do I do now?' _Naruto asked himself as Orochimaru approached him with a twisted smile on his face. The blond's body was numb and refused to move, _'Damn it! Move you idiot!' _The snake summoner pointed his sword at the blond as he walked.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Look at you, all afraid," he licked his lips and smirked, "My blade will end your fear brat."

Naruto gritted his teeth, there was nothing more to do. He had already played his trump card and was almost out of chakra with his body no longer moving from the strain it had taken. He watched as Orochimaru approached but his eyes widened when he saw the ground beneath the snake summoner began to swirl.

"What?" Orochimaru asked himself as he was being swallowed by the ground.

"Fire Style: Toad Flame Bomb!" Jiraiya yelled as he unleashed a steam of fire while the toads on his shoulders unleashed toad oil at Orochimaru. The two attacks mixed and he resulted in a large explosion where Orochimaru had been, leaving a large cloud of smoke filling the area.

"Let's go kid," Jiraiya exclaimed as he slung Naruto over his shoulders and began to run out of the base.

"W-what! Where are we going?" Naruto asked as the sage sped through the halls.

Jiraiya looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to get you to Tsunade. You're going to get her to a safe place and wait for me outside. I'm going to go back inside and blow the place up so we have one less base to worry about," he instructed. Naruto stared at Jiraiya with a blank expression making Jiraiya feel a little awkward, "What are you staring at?"

"What the hell happened to you and why is there a toad on your shoulder?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Nice to meet 'cha," said the toad with a smile on his face, "My name is Fukasaku."

"And I'm Shima," said the other toad.

"Weird…" Naruto muttered with an odd look on his face.

Jiraiya sighed at his student's lack of respect. "This is as far as we go," he said as he put Naruto down and pointed to the exit, "Tsunade should be out there. Make sure to protect her at all costs, she's still a little shaky from the blood."

Naruto nodded. "Got it sensei," he said before looking down with a frown, "I'm sorry but I had to use it again."

"You did what you had to do," Jiraiya said with a serious expression, "You were lucky not to have overdone it, otherwise you'd be dead right now. Just make sure not to use it again until you have the necessary training."

"I understand," Naruto said as he watched Jiraiya run back into the base, "Be careful sensei." With that the blond ran out of the base, keen on following his master's orders.

* * *

Orochimaru growled as he got out of the rubble Jiraiya's attack had caused. He had been a fool to turn a blind eye to Jiraiya but he supposed he hadn't been able to detect him because the sage was using the infamous 'Sage Mode.' He had never seen it himself until now and had to say that it was a powerful technique.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto said as he walked to Orochimaru with a slight limp to his step. Kimimaro stood next to him with a calm expression on his face.

"What happened Kabuto?" Orochimaru asked with a frown.

Kabuto sighed. "I was ambushed by Naruto," he began, "I underestimated him and ended up getting hit by a Rasengan."

Orochimaru nodded with a snarl. "What about Kimimaro?" he asked, "Is he fit for battle?"

Kabuto nodded. "I believe so," he turned to the Sound ninja and smirked, "Once I recovered from the attack I used my medical jutsu to awaken Kimimaro and heal his fatigue."

"Very well," Orochimaru said, "Kimimaro I want you to find and kill the fox brat, his might become a threat with time. As of now he should be out of the base. Kabuto, you and I will prepare to leave this base since it's been compromised. We will meet in the South base in one day."

The two Sound ninja nodded. Kimimaro took off towards the nearest exit while Kabuto and Orochimaru left in clouds of smoke.

* * *

As soon as Naruto got out of the base he was greeted by the sight of a blood-covered Tsunade sitting next to an unconscious Shizune. The blond frowned, she hadn't done anything to help and only cared about how sorry she felt about herself. Jiraiya had told him all about Tsunade's tragic life and he couldn't believe how selfish Tsunade was. Instead of honoring the memory of her brother and of her lover she chose to run away from everything.

"Is she alright?" Naruto asked. Tsunade didn't respond and kept her gaze on the ground, "What's the matter with you?" The blond gritted his teeth and glared at Tsunade, "You're a medic, aren't you supposed to help her! Stop being selfish and help her already!"

"Shut up brat!" Tsunade snapped in anger, "You don't know anything."

Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "I know all abo-" The blond's eyes widened and he jumped to the side, dodging a barrage of bone-like blades.

"You are indeed skilled if you managed to dodge my attack," came a voice from a tree. Naruto turned his gaze towards the voice and his eyes widened when he noticed that it was the same ninja he had spared, "But I will still kill you in name of Lord Orochimaru."

Naruto gave a quick gaze at Tsunade before getting into his taijutsu stance. "I don't plan on dying today," he said with a smirk on his face. Tsunade gazed at Naruto and her eyes widened when she saw the determination on his eyes, "I still have to be Hokage someday!"

'_H-he…' _Tsunade watched Naruto and couldn't help but think of her dead brother. Tears welled up on her eyes remembering the days she had been with her brother. She would annoy, embarrass, and argue with her brother but she always loved him. The same determination and dream that lived on her brother was now living on Naruto.

"You're a fool," Kimimaro said with a calm expression, "No matter what you do, I'll end you're life here and now."

"We'll see about that," Naruto said with a smirk as he charged at Kimimaro with his blade in hand.

Kimimaro opened his palm and a blade made of bone emerged from his palm. He charged at Naruto and the two blades met with a 'clang.' The blades were intertwined and Naruto smirked as he began to infuse chakra to his blade, a blade infused with wind chakra was able to cut through almost anything. The wind-enhanced blade easily cut through Kimimaro's but as soon as it did, bones emerged from the Sound ninja's stomach and stabbed Naruto's right arm.

Naruto cried in pain and tore his arm away from the bones. Blood flowed freely from his right arm and it already felt numb. He tried to move his arm but found that he couldn't, the bones had probably cut through his nerves. Kimimaro wasted no time and punched the blond in the stomach before kicking him away, making the blond land on the ground with a thud.

"Now do you see the difference on out strength," Kimimaro said in an emotionless voice.

'_Damn, I used all of my chakra already,' _Naruto thought with a frown, _'I have to rely on my taijutsu.' _

The blond stood up shakily and smirked at Kimimaro before charging towards him. The Sound ninja scoffed and took out another blade from his right palm. He swung the blade but Naruto spun to his right at the last moment and only got a slight cut on his right rib. The blond was now inside of Kimimaro's defenses and used his left hand to punch him on the chest. Before the fist could make contact, bones stuck out of Kimimaro's chest and impaled the blond's fist.

Tsunade cringed at Naruto's scream of agony. The blond pulled his hand away from the bones but as soon as he did, he received a punch to the jaw. Tsunade could only watch as Naruto was being knocked around by Kimimaro like a ragdoll. The Chunin couldn't do much except close his eyes at each strike he received.

'_No,' _Tsunade thought as she watched Naruto run at Kimimaro before being kicked away. The blond stood up and charged at the Sound ninja again, this time Kimimaro allowed him to get close before stabbing Naruto through the stomach with his blade. _'No!' _The legendary medic watched as Naruto spat blood and life started to leave his eyes. She had to help. She wouldn't allow Naruto to die, he would accomplish his dreams and she would make sure of it!

"Let him go!" Tsunade yelled as she appeared next to Kimimaro and delivered a punch to his stomach. The Sound ninja managed to reinforce his body with bones but was still knocked aside like a ragdoll before losing consciousness.

Tsunade wasted no time and begin to look through Naruto's wounds. The blond had internal bleeding and some of his digestive organs had been impaled by Kimimaro's blade. She began to use her medical jutsu to heal Naruto and grew worried when she saw how hard he was panting. If she didn't stabilize him quickly he would go into cardiac arrest from the loss of blood.

The legendary medic's hands were covered in blood but she didn't care. All that mattered was healing Naruto and making sure that he would be able to realize the dream where many others had failed. As she began to heal his organs she was surprised to see that they were already healing in a fast rate, no doubt the fox was healing Naruto in order to remain alive. She was soon finished closing his wounds but the loss of blood couldn't be recovered with medical jutsu, she would need to find a hospital.

"T-Tsunade…" Naruto muttered weakly.

Tsunade grew worried. "Don't talk or you'll make it worse," she instructed as she began to work on healing his broken jaw, "I'm going to get you patched up but you need to take it easy,"

"Alright…" Naruto said with a slight chuckle, "Looks… like you're not… afraid of blood… anymore."

Tsunade gave a small smile and nodded. "You have to rest for now. It will help you recover faster."

Naruto's eyelids became heavier and he nodded weakly before losing consciousness.

* * *

Sunlight entered through the window of a hospital room, making Naruto stir from his peaceful sleep. The blond's eyes opened slowly and he grew confused. He didn't know why he was in a hospital or where exactly he was. This was not a Konoha hospital since it lacked the all-white rooms. This hospital room was a light blue and had a window overlooking a village that he was unfamiliar with.

'_Where am I?' _Naruto asked himself in slight worry, _'What happened to Jiraiya-sensei or Tsunade?'_

Naruto heard the room's door began to open and turned towards it, hoping to find some answers. The blond got a confused look on his face when he saw Shizune enter the room with a smile. "I see you're awake," she said with a smile, "How are you feeling?"

The blond tried to respond but his throat was hoarse and he broke into a fit of coughs. Shizune was quickly at his side and gave him a glass of water that he gladly took. "Where am I?" the blond asked weakly once he was done with the water.

"You're in one of Konoha's neighboring villages," Shizune explained, "You were brought here after being badly hurt by a Sound ninja."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Where's Jiraiya-sensei and Tsunade?" he asked with a worried look, "Are they alright?"

"They're quite well," Shizune said with a smile, "Lord Jiraiya managed to blow up Orochimaru's base while Lady Tsunade brought you here and healed you."

"That's good," Naruto said with a smile as he brought a hand to his chest. He gave an odd look when he felt something around his chest and found it to be the necklace Tsunade had been wearing.

The door opened once again revealing Tsunade. The legendary medic's eyes widened when she saw Naruto awake and smiled. "You're finally awake," she said with a hint of relief on her voice, "You really had us worried."

"How long have I been out?" Naruto asked.

"You've been unconscious for four days," Tsunade said with a sigh, "Seriously kid, why did you sleep so long?"

Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry about that but those Sound ninja were tough," he responded before he lifted his new necklace and showed it to Tsunade, "Why am I wearing your necklace Granny Tsunade?"

Tsunade got a tick mark on her head but ignored the 'granny' comment. "That necklace used to belong to my grandfather, the First Hokage," she began. Naruto got a look of disbelief and looked at the necklace in awe, "By giving you that necklace it means that I'm giving you my support."

"Support for what?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"My support on your dream of becoming Hokage," she explained as she approached Naruto. Tsunade leaned to Naruto's forehead and gave it a small kiss, making the blond blush in embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" Naruto exclaimed in embarrassment, "You can't be doing that out of nowhere."

Tsunade smiled, it had been the same reaction Nawaki had whenever she kissed his forehead. "Relax brat," she said with a smirk, "That was to show that I have complete confidence on you."

Naruto grinned. "I promise I won't let you down but being Hokage isn't my only dream," he admitted with a smile, "I also plan on becoming strong enough to take care of all my precious people."

"To do that you'll need more training," Jiraiya said. He had just arrived and was sitting on the window with his arms crossed.

"Can't you ever use a door Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"Now, where would be the fun in that," Jiraiya said with a chuckle.

* * *

Two days later the group was making their way to Konoha. The reason they hadn't left a day after Naruto woke up was because Tsunade said he needed more rest and she would castrate anyone who didn't listen to her. During this time Tsunade had grown very protective of Naruto to a point where Jiraiya called her Naruto's unofficial mom. She had punched Jiraiya through a wall for saying that though she never denied it.

Naruto had gotten to know Shizune and grew to view her as a type of older sister. She was nice to him and even let him play with Tonton, whom Tsunade had left with one of her contacts for safekeeping. The group had grown close and Naruto couldn't be happier, he finally had an idea of what having a family was like.

They were currently only a few miles away from Konoha. Naruto was exited to get there because that would mean he could train again since Tsunade had forbidden him from doing it since she was still worried over his injuries. It was true since Naruto still had bandages on his head and most of his upper body.

"I can't wait to get back!" Naruto declared with a smile, "I haven't had ramen in so long that I'm forgetting what it tastes like."

"It's only been a few days," Jiraiya muttered with a sigh.

Naruto frowned. "What are you talking about?" he asked, "We've been gone for about nineteen days."

Jiraiya face faulted. "You were actually counting," he asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Naruto admitted with a smile, "I've been counting the days where I didn't have ramen and they were like hell since I could only eat hospital food and you're cooking all this time."

Jiraiya smirked. "Are you sure it's been hell because of that?" he asked as he gave a knowing look to Naruto, "Are you sure you didn't just miss your girlfriend?"

Naruto blushed. "Ino's not my girlfriend!" he declared with a bright blush.

"When did I say the name Ino?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk.

Naruto growled with a blush on his face as Jiraiya broke into a fit of laughter. "You'll pay for that Jiraiya-sensei," the blond muttered before walking towards Tsunade and whispered something to her.

"WHAT!" Tsunade screamed in anger. Jiraiya gulped in fear when Tsunade approached him with a death glare, "Did I just hear that you made Naruto read your smut?"

Jiraiya's eyes almost fell out of their sockets and he began to shake in fear. "I... I didn't," he gasped out in fear before receiving a punch that sent him crashing into a tree.

"If I ever find you trying to corrupt Naruto again, I'll beat you to death," she declared before continuing to walk with an embarrassed Shizune trailing along. Naruto stood back and threw Jiraiya a smirk, showing that he had gotten his revenge.

"That was truly evil kid," Jiraiya muttered with a whimper.

**Ch. 14 End**

**That's the end of this one guys. I would like to thank all of those who reviewed last chapter and of course to those who put this story on their favorites. I thank you all for reading and I hope you like this chapter, remember to leave questions if you have any.**


	15. Return to Konoha

**I bring a new chapter today. Thank you for the positive feedback and I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I am. I have so many ideas on what to do with the story and I can't wait to share them with you. I've also set up a kind of schedule on the updates of the story; from now on I'll update two times a week between Monday and Friday. The reason I won't update during the weekend is because I'm usually busy with daily things on those days. Now I'll answer some questions you guys left.**

**The group arrives to Konoha in this chapter and yes, Tsunade is over her fear of blood since she pretty much tackled the problem when healing Naruto though she'll still be a little uncomfortable with it. Jiraiya has been teaching Naruto on using the Kyuubi's chakra but I didn't cover it for certain reasons but what I can tell you is that he'll use the Kyuubi's chakra a lot differently than in canon. **

**Jiraiya won't be teaching Naruto sage jutsu just yet. I already know when Naruto learns it but I'll just keep that information to myself for now. As the story progresses Naruto will keep on training on refining what he already knows and that means that he'll train on chakra control every once in a while. **

**I hope I covered all of your questions. The one about Jiraiya's cooking being THAT bad, just made my day. This is the last chapter of the 'Search for Tsunade' Arc, which I hope you liked. That is all for now and I hope you like this chapter. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Search for Tsunade Arc**_

**Ch. 15 Return to Konoha**

Murmurs were heard all throughout Konoha. Many villagers glanced at the group of ninja walking through the village. There were mixed emotions and different rumors going around. Some people were glad to see that Naruto was okay and wondered if it had been Jiraiya and Tsunade who had protected the blond from Itachi. Other villagers couldn't care less about Naruto and wondered why Tsunade had come back to the village, they were happy, regardless, since it meant that their village would be a lot more safe with the presence of a legendary ninja.

"I thought we were going to the hospital," Naruto said with a small frown on his face. They had only arrived to the village a few minutes ago and he planned on going to the hospital before anything else. Some of his friends were still hurt from the Chunin Exams.

"We will," Tsunade responded with a nod, "But we have to report to the Hokage first since I can't just walk into a hospital and start treating its patients as if I own the place."

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed. "I guess you're right," he responded with a smile making its way to his face, "Besides, I have to tell the old man how good I did on my first mission as a Chunin."

"You did have my help," Jiraiya said with a smirk on his face, "I doubt that you would have been successful if it hadn't been for me."

Naruto simply crossed his arms and looked away, knowing his master was right. He looked around the street and found that they were subjects to many stares of curiosity. It was a little weird that he wasn't getting any hateful looks but he assumed it was because of who was with him. He looked at his companions and grinned slightly, they were legendary ninja that everyone loved and respected and he knew that they didn't get strong for any selfish needs. It had been a dream of his to be acknowledged but it wasn't until a few days ago that he fully comprehended that it was a rather selfish dream. That dream had changed into something more meaningful that wouldn't change with any amount of time.

"We're here," Tsunade said with a small smile, finding it a little nostalgic to be standing before the Hokage's office. It looked exactly the same since she had left the village.

"Let's go," Jiraiya said as the four ninja entered the building. The receptionist gave them a quick glance before her eyes widened and gave a quick bow.

"Who's she bowing to, Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked his master.

Jiraiya sighed and shook his head, his student was really clueless at times. "Don't worry about it for now Naruto. Let's go see the Hokage," the sage gave a nod to the receptionist before ascending the stairs of the building.

After a few minutes the group was standing before the door that led to the Hokage's office. Shizune walked ahead of the group since she knew that none of them would show any level of politeness, and knocked on the door.

"Enter," came the Third's voice from his office.

Shizune sighed in relief, and looked at her companions. They were unusually quiet but she was happy that they were behaving, sometimes she felt as if she was the only responsible one on the group. She opened the door to the room and entered with a polite smile on her face.

"Hey old man!" Naruto and Jiraiya said right after entering the room. Shizune sighed, knowing that nothing would ever change those two.

Sarutobi smiled. "I take it your mission was a success?" Receiving a grin from Naruto, the Third nodded and gave Tsunade a smile, "It's good to see you again Tsunade."

"I never thought I would say this but it's good to be back," she responded with a smile.

The Third nodded with a smile on his face before taking out a couple of scrolls. "I've already prepared the documents that will let you become the head of the medical team," he explained with his pipe on his mouth, "It will only take a few days but you're welcome to work in the hospital whenever you want."

"I'll keep that in mind," Tsunade said with a smile.

"Now I need to speak to Jiraiya alone, I hope you don't mind," Sarutobi stated in a polite tone.

Naruto grinned at the Hokage. "Don't worry about it old man," he responded with a smile on his face, "Granny Tsunade and I have to go to the hospital anyway."

Tsunade growled at the nickname but didn't voice her opinion on the matter. "We'll be leaving now," she stated before giving a last look to Sarutobi, "It was good to see you again sensei."

The Third nodded with a smile as he watched the three ninja leave his office. He turned to Jiraiya who had a look of seriousness on his face. "I take it you have a lead on them?" Sarutobi asked.

Jiraiya nodded. "I'll probably be gone a little longer than I first thought," the sage explained as he crossed his arms, "I think that I'll be gone about two months at most but as soon as I get back I'm taking Naruto with me."

"Very well," the Third said with a nod. He let out a little smoke from his pipe and gave Jiraiya a serious look, "What happened to Naruto during the mission? He seems a little different than usual."

"He had to kill on this mission," Jiraiya responded, "He's dealing with it the same way Minato did but I'm sure he'll come around soon."

* * *

Naruto walked through the hospital with a frown. Tsunade had gone to meet some of the supervisors of the hospital with Shizune in tow. He had been okay with that since Tsunade had to take care of priorities first. After that he decided to visit Sasuke but on the way there he ran into Asuma. The Jonin didn't have much time to talk since he apparently had a mission but managed to tell Naruto that Kakashi was in the hospital. The blond had done a little digging around and found out that Kakashi had been left in that state by none other than Itachi.

Naruto arrived in front of Sasuke's room and gritted his teeth. Itachi hadn't only hurt Kakashi but Sasuke too and to add salt to the wound, it had happened right in front of him. The blond still needed more training. He wouldn't be able to protect his friends against people like Itachi if he was in his current level and he had to fix that.

The blond opened the door to find the room filled with most of the 'rookie nine.' Sasuke was unconscious in a bed, Sakura sat next to him with worry on her eyes, Choji ate ships near the door, Kiba leaned against a wall with an impassive look on his face, Shino stood in a corner with his gaze going around the room and finally Ino sat near Sakura.

"Hey," Naruto muttered in surprise at seeing so many people on the room.

Ino quickly turned around, hearing the familiar voice, and smiled. "Naruto!" she exclaimed as she went over to him and pulled him into a hug, "You've been gone too long!"

There was a collective, 'Quiet!' from the group in the room, making Ino break the hug and glare at them.

"What's your problem?" Ino asked with a frown.

"We're in a hospital," Shino responded, "Therefore we need to be quiet as a courtesy to the patients."

Ino had the decency to blush. "I already knew that," she said in a much quiet voice, "I just didn't expect Naruto to arrive so suddenly."

Kiba smirked. "Leave her alone Shino. She was just glad to see her boyfriend again," he teased with Akamaru barking in agreement.

Ino blushed a crimson red and glared at Kiba. "What did you say, mutt?" she growled through gritted teeth. The two broke into an argument that soon involved most of the people in the room, even the quiet Shino had been dragged into the heated argument.

Naruto watched the exchange with a small grin on his face. His friends were really one of a kind. The blond shook his head and sat in an empty chair near Ino, trying to stay out of the argument. Any other day he would have loved to annoy Kiba but he felt a little tired today, it had been a really long mission after all.

"Quiet!" commanded a voice from the door. The group turned around to see Tsunade standing before them with a disapproving gaze, "There's no excuse for being so loud in a hospital."

Naruto grinned at Tsunade. "Are you done healing Kakashi-sensei?" he asked, receiving a nod from Tsunade, "Wow! That was fast Granny Tsunade."

Tsunade twitched at the nickname but dismissed it for now, she had someone to heal at the moment. "Give me some room," she said as she walked towards Sasuke's sleeping form. Ino and Naruto moved out of the way while Sakura stayed glued to her spot, "I said move."

Sakura quickly moved away after hearing the commanding voice of Tsunade. The legendary medic quickly got to work and looked over Sasuke and found that he didn't need much. His body showed no sign of damage and the only problem was his mind being in shock. She simply used her medical jutsu around Sasuke's body before applying pressure on his head.

"There," Tsunade said as she moved away from the Uchiha, "That should do it. He'll wake up soon."

As soon as she said those words Sasuke began to stir before opening his eyes. Tears of joy fell from Sakura's eyes as she went over to the Uchiha and cried on his arm. Naruto could see the discomfort on Sasuke's eyes but didn't mention it since it would probably hurt Sakura. Everyone went around Sasuke's bed asking him questions about how he had gotten hurt and how he felt, though Shino just stood near the bed without saying a word.

Tsunade walked to Naruto and gave him a small smile. "He'll be fine now," she explained with her arms crossed, looking at the happy group of Genin around Sasuke, "Shouldn't you be with them?"

Naruto shook his head. "I have some stuff to do," he answered, "Thank you for healing him."

"It's what I do," Tsunade responded.

* * *

"What do you plan on doing now Kakashi?" Gai asked. He had arrived before Tsunade and had witnessed how the legendary medic healed his rival. Kakashi had been quiet ever since he woke up and that only meant that he was in deep thought.

"Nothing as of now," Kakashi responded in a serious tone, "If the Akatsuki have members like Itachi then I'll have to get stronger."

Gai nodded at his rival. "Training to protect your students is always youthful," he raised a thumb at Kakashi with a smile on his face.

"Right now Jiraiya is doing all he can to gather information but we already know how terrible they can be," Kakashi explained.

"What do you mean?' Gai asked with confusion written on his face.

"Think about it," Kakashi began, "If Itachi is part of the Akatsuki then that means that whoever the leader is, he or she has to be in a whole other level than him. Worst case scenario, they're even stronger than the three Sanin."

"Then I will train even harder than before! I will also protect everyone from the Akatsuki and if I can't, I'll do a thousand push-ups with a boulder on my back using only one hand!" Gai declared with a smile on his face before pointing at Kakashi, "I will challenge you even more than before and we'll become a lot stronger in no time."

Kakashi sweat dropped, _'Just what did I get myself thrown into?' _

* * *

Naruto sat on top of the Hokage Monument with a frown on his face. The blond was a little upset at being ignored by everyone in the hospital room but he dismissed it for now. They had been happy to have Sasuke back and it was obvious that they would want to talk to him. He didn't really blame his friends for it.

The blond was in fact a little surprised with himself at the moment. Back in the hospital, after witnessing Sakura cry for Sasuke, he half-expected himself to be saddened about it but now that he thought about it, he didn't really feel anything after witnessing it, he assumed that his crush for the pink-haired kunoichi was gone. Naruto sighed as he gazed at the village, he felt tired from his long mission, not physically tired but mentally. The things he had done weighed heavily on him since he still somewhat regretted killing those Sound ninja, he felt as if it hand't been completely necessary to kill them.

"There you are," came a sweet voice behind him. Naruto turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Ino walking over to him with a smile on her face.

"What are you doing here all alone?" Ino asked as she took a seat next to the blond.

Naruto turned his gaze to the village and sighed. "I guess I just didn't feel like being around so many people," he admitted with a little regret on his voice, "I'd rather take it easy for now."

Ino looked at Naruto in sadness. His eyes had changed, the sparkle of innocence and mischief was gone, replaced with regret and pain. "What happened on your mission?" she asked in concern.

"I don't want to talk about it," Naruto muttered with his gaze never leaving the village.

"Naruto…" Ino sighed out in sadness.

Naruto gave Ino a quick glance before turning back to the village. "Why don't you go visit Sasuke?" he asked a little harsher than he intended. The blond ran a hand through his hair and gave Ino a small smile, "I'll be alright on my own."

Ino shook her head. "You're more important than him," she whispered loud enough for Naruto to hear. The blond's eyes widened and he looked at Ino in surprise, "Something happened on your mission, something that is hurting you. Didn't I tell you that I would help you with your pain? That was a promise I made myself that day. I promised that no matter what happened, I would always be there for you."

Naruto smiled at Ino with some tears forming on his eyes, the feeling of regret was coming back to him. He rested his back on the ground, watching the clouds floating up above. "Something did happen," the blond admitted, "I had to do something I always hoped to avoid."

Ino took hold of Naruto's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "What happened?" she asked in concern, hoping to know what was hurting her friend, "You'll feel better if you tell me."

"I had to kill," Naruto said in a cold voice. Ino looked at Naruto in shock, she had never seen the blond as someone who would take a life but they were ninja. Ninja were supposed to kill, for all she knew everyone of her friends had probably killed before.

"We're ninja Naruto. It's what we do," she responded with sadness on her voice.

Naruto nodded. "I know that," he said with a frown, "I kept telling myself that. Even before it happened I knew that I would end up killing someone at some point but it wasn't until I killed that something inside of me snapped. I had killed a Sound ninja and it had been incredibly easy, he had no time to even see me before I took his life."

Ino only listened. Naruto was emptying his heart from the guilt he felt and she could only be there for him at the moment. She would let him spill every single emotion he had oppressed from the mission and would help him get through this.

"I felt like a murderer," Naruto said through gritted teeth, "There was a time when I was actually looking forward to it. I felt strong, like nothing could hurt me but when I caught wind of what I was thinking, I felt like a murderer, no better than the people I was killing."

"But that isn't really you," Ino argued with tears welling up in her eyes, "You just said that you regretted ever thinking that. That means that you're still you. Asuma-sensei once told us that it was hard to take a life but that it was even harder to go back to being your normal self."

Naruto thought over Ino's word carefully. She was right, he wasn't a mindless murderer since he felt bad about having done it. He knew that he would always hate killing but knew that it was in order to maintain peace. The only thing he hoped for was to have Ino there to help him get through it.

"You're right," Naruto responded with a smile, "I know I'm still not back to normal but i promise that I'll try."

Ino smiled back before standing up and offering her hand to Naruto. "Come on, let's go out!" she ordered with a smile, "And you better drop that gloomy attitude of yours or I won't take you with me."

Naruto's mouth slowly turned into a grin before taking Ino's hand and standing back up. "You got it," he responded with a smile before scratching the back of his head, "Do you mind going to Ichiraku's with me? I haven't really had ramen for a while."

"Fine," Ino said with a small smile, "We'll eat there since we're celebrating your return to the village."

"Let's go," Naruto said with a toothy grin. With that the two left the monument. Naruto was feeling much better thanks to Ino while she was glad to have the blond beginning to be his normal self. She was also glad to spend more time with him, it had been a while since they had last seen each other and the two were glad to be going out together again.

* * *

Ibiki walked through the hallways of the Hokage's office building. He was making his way to the Hokage's office since he had some information on Sound. Kakashi had captured the two Sound ninja brothers, Ukon and Sakon, and he had finally made them crack. It hadn't been easy since Orochimaru had probably taught them how to keep their mouth shut but he had finally done it.

Ibiki knocked on the door of the Hokage's office with a paper on hand. "Enter," came the voice of the elderly man. Ibiki entered the door to see Sarutobi going through a rather large amount of paperwork, "What brings you here Ibiki?"

"Lord Hokage," Ibiki said with a light bow before handing the Hokage the paper he had had on hand, "That is a report on what we got out of the two Sound prisoners. They told us some of the locations of Orochimaru's bases but they are only a few."

"What else?" The Third asked while skimming through the report.

"It appears that the two brothers were part of what Orochimaru called 'The Sound Four.' Ukon and Sakon were given control of one base and many smaller ones though they have no idea of the locations of any other bases even though they know there's more," Ibiki explained, "I've taken the liberty of displaying the bases where Orochimaru most likely is."

The Third nodded in understanding. This was very important information that would need his immediate attention. He had to send teams to the bases fast since it had been almost a month since Orochimaru's attack and he didn't want the trail to get cold. The bad thing was that many Jonin were out on missions and he couldn't spare many Chunin. He went over ideas on his head and decided to send Jonins with Chunin subordinates to the bases were Orochimaru most likely was while sending Chunins with Genin squads to the less dangerous bases.

"Thank you for the information Ibiki, you may leave," the Third said with a nod, dismissing the scarred Jonin. Ibiki gave a light bow before leaving the office, leaving the Third to think of who to send.

Sarutobi went over teams on his head. As of now, he only had Gai and Kurenai on the village with a limited amount of Chunin since most of them were still reconstructing the village. Gai could go with a Chunin squad with Kurenai doing the same by the next day. That would only leave the Chunin teams. He decided on assigning a few Chunin teams for the task and would summon them to his office for the details. The teams would all leave by the next day, they had no time to lose.

* * *

"Gross Naruto!" Ino exclaimed as she watched as Naruto gulped ramen down his throat with gusto.

The blond grinned as he set a bowl down on the stall. "That hit the spot," Naruto declared with a satisfied smile. He turned to Ino and flashed her a grin, "Don't complain Ino, you like ramen just as much as I do."

Ino huffed and crossed her arms. "But I still eat decently," she explained, "You just gulp it down and get it all over your mouth and clothes."

Naruto sighed knowing that when he argued with Ino, she would always have the last word. "Fine I'll watch how I eat from now on, happy?" the blond said with a frown on his face.

"Very," Ino said with a smile on her face, clearly happy about making Naruto see his mistakes, "Let's get going, we still have time to look around before it gets dark."

Naruto nodded and set his money on the stall. "Thanks for the food Ayame, tell Teuchi to get better soon!" The blond said as he turned to leave.

"Will do!" came Ayame's voice from inside Ichiraku's.

The two blonds left the ramen stand to walk around the village for a little while longer. The sun was already starting to set which meant they had about an hour until Ino had to go back home. Naruto would usually walk her home before leaving for his apartment since she had once told him that it was what a gentleman should do.

"What's a messenger bird doing here?" Ino asked Naruto. The blond turned towards the sky to see a bird flying towards them with a letter on its beak.

The bird landed on Naruto's shoulder and moved the letter up and down, motioning the blond to take the letter. The blond took the letter in hand and the bird flew off before disappearing in the distance. He then opened the letter and began to read its contents.

Ino watched Naruto read and got a worried look on her face when she saw him frown. "What's wrong?" she asked, "Don't tell me you already have a new mission?"

Naruto smiled sadly and put the letter away. "I'm afraid so," he muttered with a sigh, "There's some of the Sound's bases that need to be dealt with. I assume I have to go to one of those bases but there's not many details here except for the teams and tasks."

Ino frowned. It wasn't fair that Naruto just got back and they were already taking him away from her. He hadn't even been on the village for a full day and he was already asked to leave. "Fine," she muttered a little sadly, "Just be careful Naruto."

"Don't worry about it Ino," Naruto said with a smile but it faltered when he noticed that Ino was still a little down, "How about this? We'll make a bet. I will do anything you want if I don't see you for more than two days and you will treat me to ramen if we get to spend a lot more time together in the next few days."

Ino thought over the bet and smiled, knowing that she would easily win. "Deal," she said with an exited grin, "You're going to lose Naruto."

"We'll see about that," Naruto said, "I have to go to the Hokage's now, sorry I won't walk you home."

"Don't worry about it," Ino responded with a tint of pink on her cheeks, "Promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise," Naruto said with a smile before leaping away from the ground and running to the Hokage's office.

Ino watched the blond leave with a smile. She found herself having growing feelings for him and was starting to realize what they really were. If she won the bet then she would have Naruto take her on a date, she blushed at the idea but hoped that it would come true. With that the kunoichi made her way home, now having an understanding of her feelings for the whiskered blond.

* * *

Naruto entered the Hokage's office to see a few Chunin he didn't know along a bored looking Shikamaru. The blond stood next to the lazy genius and watched as the Hokage took out a few scrolls.

"Now that everybody is here," the Hokage began, making Naruto hang his head in shame for being the last one to the office, he only hoped not to end up like Kakashi, "I assume you want to know why I chose you for the mission. Most of you have had experience in the many missions you have gone through. I also chose Shikamaru Nara for the mission since his I.Q. is very high and will be needed for this mission. Naruto Uzumaki was chosen since he already has experience on when it comes to Orochimaru's bases."

"On this mission you are to search for anything that talks about the Cursed Seal of Heaven," Sarutobi continued with a serious expression on his face, "You are to deal with any enemy ninja as you see fit and destroy the base once you have the information you need. You will be heading out with your assigned teams in the morning, a letter has been sent out to them so that they can meet you tomorrow morning at the gate. Understood?"

"Understood," the Chunins responded.

* * *

The next morning Ino walked to the Konoha gates with a frown on her face. She had gotten a last minute mission and would be leaving very early. What annoyed her of this was that she wouldn't get to see Naruto off. At least it meant that she had won the bet.

She saw the gates coming closer and saw a group of Chunin standing near a group of Genin as if getting ready to leave. Ino saw Choji in the group and walked over to him, noticing that every other Genin there had looks of confusion on their faces.

"What's going on here?" Ino asked in confusion.

"There were a bunch of us called here but they didn't give anyone much information. I saw Shikamaru earlier but he left before I could talk to him. I guess that's what happens when we get last minute missions," Choji sighed out as he took out a bag of chips and began to eat.

A few minutes passed and most of the Chunin and Genin had left the village already. The last groups were preparing to leave and Ino saw another Genin she was familiar with. Neji, the ninja that had fought Naruto on the Chunin Exams, was standing a little away from everyone with a calm look on his face.

Ino frowned when she saw the last of the Chunins and Genins leave the gates. "What's taking our squad leader so long?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

"Don't know," Choji responded, "But it looks like Neji is in our team since he hasn't left yet."

"Looks like it," Ino muttered with an annoyed look. Not only was her squad leader taking forever but she now had to spend time with Neji, the guy with the superiority complex.

"Sorry I'm late but I had to go over some things with the Hokage," came a familiar voice from behind the Genin.

"N-Naruto?" Ino gasped out in disbelief.

"I'll be your squad leader for this mission," Naruto said with a smile on his face, making the Genin gape at him.

Neji walked over to Naruto and smirked. "I can't believe they allowed you to be a Chunin," he said with a smug look.

"What?" Naruto asked in a threatening tone.

Neji scoffed before breaking into a smirk, "It was just a joke."

"WHAT!" Naruto, Ino and Choji yelled at the same time with shock on their faces.

"S-shut up!" Neji snapped with an embarrassed blush on his face, "I was only trying to lighten the mood."

Naruto eyed Neji carefully before breaking into a grin. "Nice to see you've changed a little. We don't have much time to lose soo let's get going, we'll be heading West until I tell you to change direction," the blond said with in a serious tone.

The group of ninja leapt away from the village and started to make their way to the base. As they jumped trees, Naruto moved next to Ino and gave her a grin. "Looks like I win our bet!" he said in a cheerful tone, "You better get your wallet ready!"

"Shut up," Ino said with an angry blush on her face.

**Ch. 15 End**

**Next chapter will start my first original Arc. I know it seems a little rushed but I did this to show that there's never a sure time for missions. One more thing, the events of canon will happen a little slower for character development purposes. Anyway, thank you for reading and leave any questions if you have any.**


	16. Infiltrating the Bases

**Here's the next chapter guys, didn't keep you waiting much did I? The questions that were left will be answered on this chapter. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and thank you all for the feedback. This chapter starts my first original arc. It's called the 'Remains of Sound' arc and I hope it's of your enjoyment.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 16 Infiltrating the Bases**

Naruto leapt from three to three with three Genin trailing behind him. It had been a few hours since they had left Konoha and the sun was high in the sky. They had been heading west and the blond was already noticing the climate change. It was growing a little warmer and he assumed that this meant that they were nearing the Fire Country's border. Beyond this border was a small area filled with rivers that would lead to the Sand village. Since they had come this far it was time to change directions, he didn't want to pass the border on accident and get his village in trouble. He knew that he could keep on going but looked back at his companions. Neji seemed okay while Ino and Choji were panting lightly with some sweat on their foreheads.

The Chunin moved his gaze forward and saw a small clearing on the distance. He signaled his team to stop moving as he landed on a branch. "We're going to take a small rest," Naruto informed them with a serious look on his face, "Make sure not to eat anything since we'll be moving in less than an hour and I don't want you throwing up on the way." The three Genin nodded in understanding. The blond was a little taken back since he expected some complaints but dismissed it, "Okay, let's go."

The group of ninja went over to the clearing, Ino and Choji had looks of relief on their faces as they made their way to a small stream with fresh water while Naruto and Neji stood next to each other in the middle of the clearing. The Hyuuga had his byakuugan active while the blond crossed his arms and stared ahead with a frown.

Neji deactivated his byakuugan and turned to Naruto. "There's nobody around but there are some traces of chakra around," the Hyuuga reported with a pensive look. It was normal to have leftover chakra around environments since battles between ninja took place almost anywhere, the leftover chakra would disappear after a few days, what was not normal was the type of chakra he had found, "From the looks of things this chakra is not ordinary, it loos different."

"How is it not normal?" Naruto questioned, already thinking of what to do with his team if they were in any kind of danger.

Neji shook his head and put his hands on his pockets, showing he had no need to be on the alert for now. "I'm not sure but it feels as if the chakra is tainted, dark even," he explained, "I haven't seen anything like this before but whatever it was isn't here anymore."

Naruto nodded in affirmation. "Rest for now Neji, we'll be moving soon," he ordered as he moved to sit against a tree. The blond dug into his pocket and took out a paper and a small brush with some ink. Ever since Jiraiya had taught him the art of sealing, the blond would always carry the necessaries to practice whenever he had free time. He dipped the brush into the ink before getting to work.

On the other side of the clearing Ino drank water from a canteen, feeling the water cool her mouth and wash away the thirst she had been feeling. Choji sat next to her with his head submerged on the water. He was apparently cooling his head while taking gulps of water. Ino was of course disgusted by this and turned her gaze to her other teammate. Neji was standing against a tree with his arms crossed and a thoughtful look on his face. She felt relieved that Neji wasn't being rude to them though his superiority complex wasn't fully gone, she guessed that Naruto had had a positive impact on him.

Ino looked at the other side of the clearing and saw Naruto writing on a small paper. _'What is he doing?' _she wondered as she watched the blond continue to write. A thought struck Ino and her eyes widened, _'Could it be that he was writing a letter to someone? D-did he meet another girl while he was away?' _The kunoichi shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thought, there was no way that someone else liked Naruto like that, was there?

She shyly made her way over to Naruto, hoping to get to the bottom of what the blond was doing. "Hey Naruto," she greeted with a smile. The blond looked up from his work to Ino with a questioning look on his face, "What are you doing?"

Naruto turned back to his seal and put on his serious face. "I'm working on a seal that will help me take some of the weird chakra Neji and I found back to Konoha so that it can be analyzed," the blond explained as he stroked the paper with his brush.

Ino sighed in relief, happy that nobody had beaten her to Naruto yet. She sat next to the blond and watched as he made the seal. "Why do you have to take the chakra anyway? Our mission was to destroy the Sound base after getting some research papers," she asked in confusion.

Naruto shook his head as he worked on the seal. "The mission was to gather evidence of something called the 'Cursed Seal of Heaven.' He gave us a rundown of what the chakra it emits is like and the leftover chakra around this place is similar to it," he informed Ino as he sighed happily and put the brush and ink away, "We still have some time to rest so I'll just get it before we go."

Ino nodded but almost yelped when she felt her chin touch Naruto's shoulder, just how close was she to the blond? She turned to the blond and blushed when she noticed that her face was only inches away from his own, they had probably been too into the conversation to notice their proximity.

Naruto noticed that Ino got quiet and turned to see what was wrong with her. That had been a mistake since when he turned to his right, his lips brushed against Ino's. The two ninja blushed a crimson red before jumping away from each other. The blond cursed himself for his stupidity but still felt the warmth from Ino's lips on his own. Her lips were soft and he felt breathless when their lips met but he knew that it was an accident and it wouldn't happen again.

Ino kept her gaze away from Naruto and cursed herself for not moving away from the blond before it was too late. Part of her had wanted an accident of that kind to happen but when it actually took place she panicked. His lips on her own had felt like nothing she had ever expected from a kiss. Her heart had raced faster than ever before and a large part of her wanted the light kiss to last forever.

"I-I think I'll go get the chakra now," Naruto said with a nervous look on his face. He felt as though he had put their friendship in jeopardy by that slip up.

Ino watched him go with a light frown. From the way Naruto acted, he was feeling guilty about what had happened. She was still a little shaken about the light kiss but she was still able to read him like a book. It hadn't been Naruto's fault and he was stupid for thinking it was, this proved how his treatment as a kid had affected him. He would blame himself for anything that happened, she had noticed this some time ago and knew that she would need to talk to him the next chance she got. After all with what she wanted to happen, kissing would be quite normal and she couldn't have Naruto thinking that the kiss had been a bad thing.

'_Maybe by the time this mission is over, we'll be a couple,' _Ino giggled at the thought and smiled dreamily.

Choji watched Ino from the distance and sighed. "Girls," he muttered with a chuckle before going back to drinking water, knowing that a break wouldn't come for some time.

* * *

Orochimaru and Kabuto walked through a mountainous area. The snake summoner had an amused expression on his face while Karuto's remained calm and collected. They were on their way to one of his hidden bases. Since one of the Sound Four had been captured he had to find a replacement. It would be risky but he had the perfect candidate, after having Kabuto take care of those risks of course.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru muttered suddenly. Kabuto turned his gaze to the snake summoner, "I want you to take care of those things when we get to the base."

"Very well," Kabuto said with a slight bow, "What will we do about Ukon and Sakon? Having them in the Leaf is a little too dangerous."

Orochimaru chuckled. "I'm no fool Kabuto, I have taken the necessary measures if any of my ninja are captured," he explained with an amused smile, "Not one of my ninja knows enough to be a danger to me or my plans."

"What about me Lord Orochimaru?" the medic asked with a smug look.

"You're an exception since I've told you about everything," the snake summoner informed with a smirk on his face, "But remember that not everything is as it seems."

The snake summoner continued on his way with a frowning Kabuto trailing behind him.

* * *

It was dark when Naruto and his team arrived close to their destination. The blond stood on a tree branch with his team standing behind of him waiting for instructions. A small mountain could be seen in the distance with trees all around it. It seemed like a normal place but on closer inspection it had many chakra signatures scattered around it. Some were near the mountain while, thanks to Neji's byakuugan, they had found out that there were even more inside of the mountain. This meant that the information Naruto had received was accurate, this mountain did in fact house one of the Sound's bases.

The blond turned an eye to his team and saw the state they were in. Choji and Ino looked exhausted while Neji looked a little better than them but not good enough to put up much of a fight. Naruto knew he was not much better since it had been a long trip and knew that they would need to rest for the night. The trees in the area covered them from view and no chakra signature was too close, he guessed that they would be able to rest in this place since it looked relatively safe.

"We'll set camp here," Naruto instructed as he dropped from the tree and landed on the ground with no trouble. The other followed his lead and landed on the ground behind him, "You can eat if you want but if you need to make a fire then tell me. We will keep watches of three hours after we go to sleep. I'll keep the first watch, Neji the second, Choji the third and Ino the fourth."

"Very well," Neji sighed out as he sat on the ground with a tired look on his face.

"It's finally eating time," Choji declared cheerfully as he took out a bag of chips and several rice balls from the backpack he had brought for the mission.

Ino sighed happily as sat against a tree and reached into her backpack. She took out a plastic container with stew her mom had made her the night before. It was a little weird to have stew as dinner but her mom told her that it was so she would have something made with love on her mission. She smiled at the memory and opened the container but frowned when she noticed it was cold. A fire would be needed to heat the soup and she knew that in order to do so she would need to speak with Naruto which would be really awkward.

Naruto sighed as he watched his team. Tomorrow would be a dangerous day and he hoped not to have anyone get hurt but knew that the chances of that would be slim. They were going into an enemy base after all. He dismissed those thoughts and took out a scroll from one of the pockets on his Chunin vest. The scroll opened to reveal various cups of instant ramen. He licked his lips in anticipation and knew that he would need to make a small fire that wouldn't give out their location meaning that the fire would have to be made away from camp.

He prepared to leave but froze when he saw Ino walking over to him with a blush on her face. "Naruto," Ino said in an attempt to get his attention. The blond threw her a questioning look and his eyes widened when he noticed what she had on her hand, "I need a fire to heat my food."

The blond inwardly groaned at his luck, or lack thereof, and threw Ino a nervous smile. "Don't worry Ino, I kinda have to heat my ramen," he confessed before getting a little serious, "We have to make the fire away from camp."

"Okay," Ino agreed with a light blush adorning her cheeks. It was still a little awkward around Naruto but she still had to talk to him. Having him think that she hadn't felt anything about the small kiss would make him think that she wanted nothing to do with him.

Naruto nodded and turned to Choji and Neji. "Ino and I are going to make a fire away from camp. If you have anything you need to heat up then come with us," the blond instructed.

"The food I brought doesn't need to be heated since I thought ahead of time unlike some people," Neji said with a smirk on his face.

Naruto growled at that before turning to Choji. He didn't really need an answer from him since the Genin was stuffing his face with his food. The blond turned to Ino and motioned for her to follow him before jumping up a tree and moving away from the camp with Ino in tow.

The blond kept his eyes open as he leapt from tree to tree. He would need a place that wouldn't make the fire too visible, also taking into account the distance away from camp. He saw a cave in the distance and thought of making the fire there but decided against it since if there was any kind of dangerous animal then they would make unnecessary noise that would alert the enemy of their location. The blond saw a clearing in the distance and decided on using it for the fire since it was far away from camp and he would be able to keep the smoke from giving their location by using wind manipulation.

The blond turned to face Ino and pointed at the clearing with a nod. Ino nodded back and watched as Naruto jumped down from a tree and landed on the clearing. The kunoichi followed after him and looked around the area. It had plain ground and not many grass, she assumed that this place would do.

"I'll get some firewood to burn," Naruto informed Ino as he walked towards the forest, "I'll be back soon."

Ino smiled as she watched Naruto leave. Things were starting to go back to normal between them even though there was still an air of awkwardness around them. She sat on the ground and waited for the blond to return, she only hoped that he would be back soon since she felt a little uneasy being alone near an enemy base.

* * *

Shikamaru groaned as he watched his team. His team had consisted of Kiba, Lee and Shino. The Chunin didn't really mind Shino since he would be quiet most of the time but for some reason Kiba and Lee wouldn't shut up. They were currently sitting around a fire somewhere South of Konoha. One of the Sound's bases was located only a few miles away and they would be raiding the place the following morning.

"What motivation!" Lee exclaimed in happiness, "If you and Akamaru work so well then I'll find a dog myself and train it until we are better than you! If I don't then I'll run one hundred laps around Konoha on my hands!"

Shikamaru frowned from his spot across Kiba and Lee. The two Genin had been talking about their fighting skills and how they would rise through the ranks of the village. _'What did I do to deserve this,' _the lazy genius thought with a grimace.

"They're quite loud," Shino pointed out from his spot next to Shikamaru. The Chunin had a look of annoyance on his face, showing that he wasn't entirely happy with his team, "You'll get used to it. Whenever my team went out for missions Kiba would always be really loud, saying that he was talking for the team since none of us were really outspoken."

Shikamaru sighed. "I wouldn't have minded being on your team instead of Kiba. It would have been peaceful to have a team with calm people," he admitted with a frown on his face, remembering his own team, "I had to put up with Ino of all people. She would never give our ears a rest and to make things worse she brought Naruto with her after a while. They're good people and friends to have but the two of them are way too troublesome."

"I can imagine," Shino agreed, knowing that he too wouldn't enjoy having such a loud team.

Shikamaru suddenly laid on the ground and yawned. "I'm going to sleep for now. We'll need all our strength tomorrow," he explained, "Make sure to wake me when your watch is over."

Shino nodded before hearing snoring. He snapped his head towards Shikamaru and sweat dropped, only the lazy Chunin would be able to sleep that quickly.

* * *

There was an awkward silence as a bonfire heated Naruto and Ino's food. The two blond's were still a little shaken about the kiss, though Ino still tried to make conversation from time to time. Those conversations would only end in awkward silences, something the two hated. Their friendship wasn't supposed to be awkward, the two were usually always talking each other's ears off and would know what each other was thinking.

"Finally," Naruto muttered as he took his final cup of ramen away from the bonfire and opened it to reveal the godly contents. His mouth watered when the smell of ramen hit his nostrils before he took out a pair of chopsticks he had sealed with the ramen and began to eat.

Ino watched him with a small smile before taking her stew away from the fire. She blew on it before grabbing a pair of chopsticks her mother had put on the container. A smile made its way to her face as she ate her food. Her mom had been right, having a home-cooked meal was better than having anything else any day; nothing could ever beat what a mother had cooked for her children. Her thoughts caught up with her and she frowned. Sadness washed through her when she gazed at the blond. He had been an orphan and had nobody to make him a home-cooked meal. A smile made its way to her face as an idea struck her.

Naruto ate his ramen in silence. Nothing could really beat Ichiraku's ramen but it would do for now, it was still good ramen after all. As the blond opened his mouth to put his chopsticks to his lips, another pair of chopsticks suddenly entered his mouth. He turned to Ino with the chopsticks still in his mouth, she only smiled at him as she took the chopsticks away. The blond started to chew whatever Ino had given him and smiled in contempt when he tasted it.

"How is it?" Ino asked with a smile.

Naruto finished swallowing his food and smiled. "It was great, what was it?" he asked with a grin.

"It was some leftover stew my mom made yesterday," she informed with a gentle smile on her face, "I just thought that you would want something made rather than bought."

"Thanks Ino," Naruto said with a look of appreciation on his face. Ino smiled back and knew that it was the perfect time to talk to Naruto, she knew that an opportunity like this wouldn't come again on this mission.

"I have to tell you something Naruto," Ino said with a light blush on her face, her eyes bearing into Naruto's. The blond in turn nodded with his gaze never leaving Ino's, "It's about the thing that happened earlier."

Naruto blushed remembering the incident and looked away from Ino. "I'm sorry I did that," he apologized with sadness reflected on his blue eyes, "It was an accident and I know that it was kind of my fau-"

"No!" Ino interjected a little louder than she wanted. She composed herself and looked at Naruto with a sad smile, "I don't want you to think it was your fault. It was both of our faults and besides, it's not like I didn't want it to happen."

"W-what?" Naruto gasped out in disbelief.

Ino blushed but didn't look away from the blond, trying to show him that she was serious. "To tell you the truth I've liked you as more than a friend for some time but only realized it recently."

Naruto blushed and looked into Ino's eyes. He had no idea what to say but knew that he should say something in order for Ino not to get the wrong idea. "I think I feel the same," he finally admitted after a moment of silence, "When I left with Jiraiya-sensei I kept on going over what I really felt about you until I finally realized it one day."

Ino smiled with happy tears welling up on her eyes. Naruto felt the same way she did, she had feared that he would reject her but that fear had been proven wrong. "N-Naruto," she muttered before throwing her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.

Naruto smiled and held Ino closer to him. It felt right to hold her so close on his arms. She felt soft against his touch and her hair smelt of wild flowers, making him crazy. He really didn't know what was going to happen from then on but at the moment didn't really care. He just focused on returning Ino's embrace and melting into her warmth.

"Hey Naruto," Ino muttered as she moved her head away from the blond's chest in order to look at him. Before the blond could respond, Ino's lips crashed into his.

The blond was taken back at first but then closed his eyes and returned the kiss. It was an innocent curious kiss full of love and warmth. Ino felt as if she melted against Naruto's warm embrace and the feeling of his lips made her heart go wild. The blond had similar thoughts and found that the feeling of her lips on his made him feel as if nothing really mattered except returning the gesture, making his body feel a warmth he had never felt before.

The two finally broke away from the kiss and stared into each other's eyes. "Does this mean you're my boyfriend now?" Ino asked with a small smile on her face.

Naruto grinned and put on a thoughtful look. "I don't know Ino," he began, "If we become a couple then it means that I'll have to bother you every day from now on."

Ino smiled and embraced the blond with a content sigh. "I think I'll manage to tolerate you but you'll have to eat at my house more often so that you can get to know my parents a little more," she explained. She giggled when she felt Naruto stiffen at the word parents, she knew of how intimidating her dad was when it came to boys, "Don't worry Naruto my parents like you."

"As long as your dad doesn't kill me I'll be okay," Naruto said with a smile on his face. He pulled away from the hug and stood up before offering his hand to Ino, "We have to get back now. We've been gone too long and the others might start to worry."

Ino nodded as she took Naruto's hand and stood up. "We don't want them to search around here with no idea where they're going," she agreed, "But you'll be taking me on a date when we get back to the village."

Naruto chuckled. "Fine but you're still going to buy me my ramen," he said with a mischievous grin on his face. Ino crossed her arms and pouted making the blond chuckle. "There's one more thing Ino," the blond continued with a serious look on his face. Ino gave him a questioning look before the blond pointed at the mountain that stood in the distance, "We're still in the middle of a mission. Make sure not to tell anyone about us just yet since it would only distract the team. Wait until the mission is over to tell them, I don't want an enemy ninja overhearing us."

"You're right," Ino said with a nod before breaking into a grin, "That just means that we'll just have to finish the mission a lot faster then."

"Right," Naruto agreed as he took Ino's hand on his and began to go back to camp. The two felt happy about their new relationship and couldn't wait until the mission was over so that they could spend more time together.

* * *

The next morning saw Naruto and his team getting ready to enter the Sound base. They stood hidden among the trees and saw a group of ninja guarding the mountain. After waking up, the group had made their way to the mountain and had come to a spot after Neji had seen a group of ninja close by. The ninja didn't wear headbands, hiding their village's identity, and were presumably Genin level.

"You guys wait here," Naruto whispered to his team, "There's only three of them, I'll take care of them before they can alert anyone. Make sure to take out any other ninja that comes this way." The group nodded in understanding as the blond took out his blade.

The three enemy ninja were watching over the mountain, planning on killing anyone that got a little too close. They were anxious to kill someone as a kind of good-bye gift since their leader had informed them that they would be abandoning the base soon. They really didn't care since it only meant that they would get to torture more people wherever they were moved to. The sound of rustling leaves was heard and the three turned towards the source of the sound but finding nothing.

"What's go-" one of the ninja began but didn't finish as a blade ran though his throat. The two ninja watched their ally go down before thy launched at the culprit. One of them threw a punch but the blond met it with his blade, slicing through the man's fist and making him cry in pain. The other ninja threw a kick that was easily parried by Naruto's left shoulder before spinning towards the man and delivering a strong backhand with his left hand. The two ninja recovered from the attack and prepared for the attack but were thrown off when the blond jumped in the air before disappearing.

The two Sound ninja looked around for any sign of the blond but found none, he had simply vanished into thin air. The two were suddenly hit by a strong wind coming from the trees. The wind was so strong that the two ninja lost their footing and were blown away . The two ninja sailed through the air, unaware of the two Shadow Clones behind them. They could do nothing as the two clones used their blades to cut through them as if they were nothing. The two bodies fell limply on the ground, dead from having their hearts and lungs pierced with such force.

Naruto nodded at the clones and watched as they dispelled. There was a pool of blood on the floor and he frowned, someone would notice this easily meaning that they had little time to infiltrate the base. The blond jumped back to the trees and approached his team.

"We have to move now," the blond ordered with a frown, "They'll notice the disappearance of those three so we have to get moving."

"Got it," the three Genin said with serious expressions.

"Let's go," Naruto said as he ran at the mountain. When they got close enough they noticed that it had a series of caves, "Neji."

"On it," Neji responded as he activated his byakuugan. He looked around for a few moments before deactivating it, "There don't appear to be any ninja around those caves. The chakra signatures are coming from deeper inside."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "Good," he muttered with a serious look on his face, "I'm sure that the caves are filled with traps so I'll get a group of Shadow Clones to lead the way. We'll be going the same way, since we'll need the clones to take care of the traps."

"What will we do when we get to the enemy ninja?" Choji asked.

"You kill them," Naruto responded in a calm tone, "They'll be too much trouble if left alive."

"Wait what?" Choji asked in shock.

Neji frowned at the Genin. "You're a ninja so you're expected to kill. Naruto's right, these ninja are enemies of the Leaf and are too dangerous to be left alive."

"Let's get going," Naruto said as he made a couple of Shadow Clones and had them lead the group of ninja into one of the caves. _'Let's get this over with,' _the blond thought with a frown as the group of ninja walked through the cave.

* * *

Shikamaru put on a look of concentration as he analyzed the situation. His team was standing behind him, completely silent and waiting for instructions. Sound ninja stood in front of what Shikamaru assumed to be the base they had to destroy. Staying hidden and setting explosives throughout the base would be the best way to accomplish the mission but the ninja guarding the base would be a problem. Those two ninja would need to be killed, there was no other way. He had killed before and found it to be troublesome but necessary when it came down to it, he could only guess when it came to his team's experiences but hoped that they wouldn't be too bothered by killing.

The lazy Chunin faced his team with a serious expression. "This is the plan," he began, "Lee I want you to take care of the two ninja in the entryway. Those two have to be killed, we can't afford to knock them out and risking them waking up later on."

Lee nodded with a grim look on his face. "I know that it is most unyouthful to do this but I must do it for the mission," he declared with a thumb's up, "Do not worry Shikamaru, I'll get this done."

Shikamaru nodded. "After that we'll go inside the base as quietly as possible. If any ninja spots you then you kill them on the spot or we'll be slowed down and forced to face a mob of ninja," he instructed with a frown. His team nodded at him with mixed emotions. He could tell that Kiba hadn't killed before while Shino looked indifferent, he assumed that the bug user had killed before. The lazy Chunin looked at the enemy ninja and frowned, being a Chunin was too troublesome but he still had a job to do. With a sigh Shikamaru faced Lee and gave him a nod, "Go."

**Ch. 16 End**

**As some of you might already tell, this arc will change perspectives so don't be confused. I hope I did a good job with Naruto and Ino since romance isn't really my fort but I still try. The next chapter will come by Friday, as I said before. Remember to leave questions if you have any and thank you for reading!**


	17. The Sound of Battle

**Here's the next chapter as promised. I'm glad that you liked the romance scene since I wasn't really confident about it. Thank you for the positive feedback and for adding this story to your favorites and alerts. Most of the questions that were left I can't answer since I don't want to give out too much of the plot. Naruto and Ino will tell people about their relationship in a few chapters. Thanks again and I hope you like this chapter. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 17 The Sound of Battle**

Shikamaru kept a steady gaze on the scene in front of him. Two Sound ninja stood in front of what he knew was the Sound base they had been assigned to. The two enemy ninja had their hands near their kunai pouch, ready for any incoming attack. If the first part of his plan was going to work then he would need to actually try, though troublesome it would keep them alive and guarantee a successful mission.

From his spot on the shadows he saw Lee approaching the ninja from their blind side, time for the plan to take effect. "Shadow Possession Jutsu," the Chunin muttered as shadows extended from around him and launched at the two unsuspecting Sound ninja. He held the jutsu in place as Lee charged at the enemy ninja.

The two Sound ninja noticed that they could not move and began to struggle before they opened their mouths to alert the others but before they could utter a single noise, a ferocious kick met their faces, instantly snapping their necks, before falling limply on the ground. The green-clad Genin turned back to Shikamaru and gave him a thumbs up, showing everything was clear for the moment.

"Good job Lee," praised Shikamaru as he got out of his hiding spot followed by the rest of his team, Kiba and Shino. "Part two of the plan will go into effect now. Remember to keep your heads up and walk in the shadows."

Kiba hung his head with a loud sigh. "And here I thought we were going to kick some ass," he complained with Akamaru barking in agreement, "Can't we at least fight a few of them?"

"It would be unwise to get into a meaningless fight," Shino advised in a calm voice, "We're against the odds here, if we are located then our mission will be put in jeopardy."

"He's right and besides, when would I ever listen to a hasty suggestion like that?" Shikamaru said in annoyance, gaining a glare from Kiba, "We've been talking long enough, let's get moving." With that Shikamaru entered the base before being followed by his team. _'This is going to be a pain,' _he thought with a sigh before sharpening his eyes. He had to be on his toes now and it wasn't the time to be lazy, it was the time to make sure his team succeeded.

* * *

Naruto walked through Orochimaru's base with a sharpened gaze. His team walked behind him with uneasy expressions, save for Neji who had his byakuugan active on Naruto's suggestion. It was a typical base with the same snake pattern on the floor and walls, apparently made in the same maze-like way. Overall it looked like an exact copy of the last base the blond had been in, the only thing that made it different was the ceiling since it hadn't been tempered with for fear of a cave-in, he assumed.

Being made a Chunin and going through what he had made Naruto a lot more cautious than he had been at the beginning of his ninja career. Going into an enemy base without a plan was the last thing he would do, more so if his friend's lives were on the line. He had a clear plan on what to do and planned on leaving the base without too much trouble but knowing his luck something would go wrong, which is why he was highly on the alert. He had not only been assigned to deal with this base, he still had to deal with another base right after this one. This meant that he didn't have much time to waste since he was on schedule.

"This will be far enough," Naruto whispered to his team as he stopped walking. The blond turned to Neji and took a small scroll out of one of the pockets on his Chunin vest, "That contains some explosive tags, they're a little stronger than normal ones since I modified them so you don't have to use too many."

Neji nodded at the Chunin with a firm gaze. The blond proceeded to give similar scrolls to the rest of his team before running a hand through his hair. "Don't worry about them exploding after a set amount of time, they won't go off unless I use a hand sign," he explained, "The clones that went ahead found a crossroads so we'll separate for now. There are three different paths, Neji and I will go in an individual one while Choji and Ino go together. You'll be accompanied by a clone so that I know any of you get into any kind of trouble. Let's get going."

The group agreed though Ino a little reluctantly, she didn't like the idea of separating from Naruto in a place like this but knew that it was for the mission. She gazed at the blond and allowed a small smile to appear on her face, he had changed a lot from when she first met him. He was no longer the loud dead-last of the academy, she now realized that Iruka hadn't lied when he told them that everything would change after they became ninja. The blond was now a ninja who was serious about what he did but still held that little spark of child-like mischief that she had grown fond of. He was really one of a kind.

"We'll split up here," Naruto quietly announced. He turned to his team and gave them a grin, showing he had confidence in their abilities. "Remember to be careful and meet outside in thirty minutes. If you're not out by then, we'll come look for you. Let's go."

With firm nods the group split up, running through their respective halls. Naruto ran alone while everyone else was accompanied by a clone. They were all keen on being successful on their mission and planned on doing it without much problems.

* * *

Team Shikamaru walked through a large room with mixed emotions. Shikamaru had a look of concentration on his face, Kiba looked impatient, Lee looked as if he was ready to fight and Shino looked as calm as ever. It wasn't the most stable team, from all of the crashing personalities, but it would do since they were all shinobi and had to leave their differences behind. They were attaching explosive tags to the walls of the base as they walked, this was to destroy the base when they were done gathering research papers and to easily know the way to the exit. So far, most of the base had been tagged but they had yet to find any research talking about the Cursed Seal of Heaven.

Footsteps echoed from the entryway that led to a hallway that stood on the opposite side of them causing the group of ninja to stop dead on their tracks. Shikamaru motioned for the group to stay still as he thought of what to do. There was barely any light on the room, giving it enough light for him to control shadows freely. He would need to kill whoever was approaching before he alarmed other enemy ninja.

The Chunin turned to his team with a hardened look on his face and gave them a firm nod. Shino nodded in understanding while Lee and Kiba got into their taijutsu stances. As the footsteps grew closer Shikamaru got into his shadow possession's hand sign, Lee into his taijutsu stance, Akamaru jumped down from Kiba's head with a growl and Shino gathered some of his bugs on his sleeves.

A Sound ninja could be seen from where Team Shikamaru stood. It was a man with a small beard on his jawed scarred face, he had an eye-patch covering his right eye and short black slick hair. He wore white shinobi pants and a brown vest over a mesh shirt, showing many battle scars, and finally his Sound headband hung loosely from his neck.

The man crossed his arms and smirked at the group. "So you're the ones that have sneaking around here," he sneered.

The group's eyes widened at the revelation. It wasn't possible for them to be spotted, they had stayed in the shadows all the time and hadn't made a single sound. There was no way that they could've been spotted.

"I bet you're thinking…" the man began with an amused expression on his face, "'How did he see us' am I right?"

Shikamaru frowned. "Whatever," he sighed out with a smirk making its way to his face, "I already have you." A shadow stretched from the lazy Chunin and latched itself to the man's.

"Can't we just fight it out for once?," Kiba complained with a sigh, "Don't tell me we don't get to fight again?"

The man's smirk grew before he slowly balled his right hand into a fist. "Don't worry... you will!" the man began to flex his body making Shikamaru wince and struggle to keep control on him.

"Attack now!" Shikamaru ordered with a yell.

Lee was the first one to charge at the ninja with his right fist held back, ready to strike at the man. As he ran he suddenly felt his foot connect with a kind of switch before his eyes widened. A horde of kunai launched at Lee from one of the room's walls, the room was clearly full of traps. He quickly jumped away from the kunai but one of them managed to stab into his left leg. A groan of pain escaped his lips as he landed on the floor, it had probably struck a nerve meaning that he wouldn't be able to put up a fight. Bugs suddenly launched at the immobilized man but before they could get close, Kiba charged at the man with a kunai on hand.

"Don't!" Shikamaru exclaimed as his hold on the man finally gave out.

The man smirked and charged at Kiba in an incredible speed. The Inuzuka brought up his kunai to meet the man on the clash but didn't expect him to catch his fist before it got too close. A loud scream of pain echoed throughout the room as the man's fist met Kiba's face in a powerful punch that knocked the Genin back a couple of feet. Before he could get away, the man took hold of Kiba's ankle and threw him against one of the room's walls in a show of pure strength.

Kiba gasped in pain as his back made contact with the wall before falling to the floor with a groan. The man smirked at his work and charged at the semi-conscious teen but his eyes widened when his body refused to move. He managed to move his head back to see Shikamaru's shadow latched onto his own.

"I've gotten out once before, what makes you think I won't do it again?" the man pointed out in amusement.

Shikamaru smirked. "I didn't plan on holding you in place for more than a few seconds," he responded while struggling to keep his jutsu in place.

"You seem to have forgotten that I was also fighting," Shino said as he appeared next to the man with a cloud of bugs on his back, "Now you'll see that it is unwise to underestimate an enemy." The bugs launched at the man and latched into his skin, making him cry in pain.

"Shino get Kiba," Shikamaru gasped out through pants, "I'll take Lee. I know that you're bugs won't hold up for long so let's get going. There were no research papers, we're blowing this place down."

"Let's," Shino agreed as he ran to Kiba's fallen form.

"You okay?" Shikamaru asked Lee once he approached him.

Lee looked up at Shikamaru and grinned. "I will be okay but I don't think I'll be able to run as fast as I usually do," he said apologetically. The lazy genius nodded and the two moved to leave the room.

Shino was waiting for them on the entryway with an unconscious Kiba on his shoulders. Shikamaru gave him a nod and the group ran out of the base, ignoring the cries of pain coming from the man.

* * *

"There," Ino happily said as she put an explosive tag on a wall. She, Choji and the Naruto clone had been setting up the explosive tags while looking for any kind of research. So far there was no sign of any documentation though they had come across some rather disturbing experiments.

Choji nodded. "That's it for the tags, let's go back outside. The thirty minutes will be over soon," he suggested.

"Right," Ino agreed with a nod before turning to the Naruto clone, "Any news on Naruto?"

The clone got a tick mark on his head and gritted his teeth. "How many times do I have to tell you? I cannot see what the boss is seeing," he growled out.

"Fine!" Ino snapped with a frown.

"Guys…" Choji muttered as he pointed at the end of the hallway. Ino and the Naruto clone looked to where the Genin was pointing and their eyes widened. In front of them stood a women with a staff on her hands.

The women wore light blue shinobi pants with black ninja sandals. She had a red battle kimono on with a black belt holding it in place. She had mid-back black hair and dark black eyes with half of her face covered with a white mask.

"Oh, don't mind me please continue. It's very entertaining anyway," the women urged with amusement on her voice.

"What do we do?" Choji whispered to the Naruto clone.

"We have to take her down," it responded with a frown on its face, "I won't be able to fight much since I'll be out after one hit but I'll try to distract her whenever I can."

"How cute," the woman mockingly said, "Don't tell me you're whispering about a plan to kill me?"

"Not at all," the Naruto clone responded with a bored look, "We were just talking about the weather, missions and average pay. A very calm conversation, don't you think?"

The women shook her head and twirl the staff above her head. "Let's see how calm you are with this!" she brought the staff down on the ground. It was quiet for a second before the ground started to shake and rocks came out of the floor before launching at them.

"Body Expansion Jutsu!" Choji exclaimed as he stood in front of the two blond's and grew in size until he covered most of the hall. Rocks imbedded themselves to his back, causing him to wince in pain, before he began to shrink back to his normal size and kneel on the floor with pain written all over his face.

"Choji!" Ino and the Naruto clone exclaimed in worry as they kneeled over the Genin.

Choji managed to throw them a small grin. "Don't worry I'll be fine," he assured, "Just take her down for me will you?"

"You got it!" the clone said with a grin.

"Interesting," the women said with a frown on her face, "He was able to expand his body, is that a type of bloodline."

"We don't have to tell you anything," the clone said with a frown, "You'll pay for hurting Choji."

"And what will you do about it?" the women asked as she licked her lips in anticipation of a fight.

"This!" Ino exclaimed as she put a hand around her lips and fired several bullets of water.

The women's eyes narrowed and brought her staff up. As if in a dance, the women twirled and ducked through the water bullets before using her staff to hit the last balls of water. "That was refreshing," she said with a smirk.

"Ino, remember to keep calm," the clone said with a serious look on its face, "You won't be able to find her weaknesses if you're head is clouded."

"Right," Ino said with a nod before putting a hand to her lips.

"Again with that jutsu?" the women asked with a smirk. Receiving no answer the women sighed before holding her staff up, "Very well. I'll just take them down again."

"Water Style…" Ino focused her water chakra and glared at the enemy kunoichi, "Raging Waves!" a powerful stream of water shot from her mouth, taking the women by surprise.

The steam of water struck the women's chest before knocking her against a wall. "Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Ino continued as she fired water bullets at where the women had crashed. The force of the attacks created a small cloud of smoke, blocking the women from view.

"Let's get going!" the clone ordered as it lifted Choji with a grunt and put him on its back, "She's probably not down and this is not the best place to fight her in."

"Right," Ino said with a nod as she and the clone ran out of the base, leaving a very soaked and angry kunoichi.

"You will pay for this," the women growled out as she shakily stood up.

* * *

Neji arrived to a large room that stood on the edge of the mountain since half of it wasn't covered. He had a clear view of the forest below and noticed that he had gone up a large distance. On his way to this place, he had found some notes on the Cursed Seal of Heaven that he assumed would help whoever was researching it. There wasn't much information save for where it had come from but he assumed that it would do.

"Quite a view eh?" came a voice.

Neji instantly activated his byakuugan and spotted a man sitting on the railing of the room with his arms crossed. "Who are you?" he asked as he dropped to his taijutsu stance.

"Who am I?" the man asked himself with a sad smile on his tired face. The man had long grayish-black hair that flowed with the breeze of the room. He had tired black eyes that talked about years of experience and pain. The man wore a long white kimono with dark blue kimono pants covering most of his dark blue ninja sandals, "We don't get names."

Neji furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean 'we,'" he asked in confusion.

"I mean the others that are forced to be here like myself," he explained with a tired smile before chuckling, "But the funny thing is that we've lost the sight of it."

"Sight of what?" Neji asked, he had no idea what the man was talking about but he assumed that any kind of information would help.

"Sight of what kept us human and not lab rats," the man responded, "Due to the things that have been done to us, we don't have most of our original mindset. Now we're only ghosts of our former selves that only live to carry out our orders, some more willingly than others."

"What orders might that be?" Neji asked with his byakuugan active, noticing that the man was beginning to move.

"Why to kill you of course?" the man calmly said with a gentle smile, "Why else do you think I'm waiting for you here?"

Neji frowned. "If that's the way it has to be then so be it!" with that the Genin charged at the man with chakra flaring through his fists.

The man chuckled as he ran at Neji while bringing a hand to his side. The Hyuuga watched the hand closely as he advanced on the man but his eyes widened when he saw the man take out a large sword. The man swung the sword at Neji but he managed to jump over the strike at the last minute. He sailed through the air and took out two kunai before throwing them at the man's head, wanting to end the fight before it escalated. The man looked at the incoming projectiles before bringing his sword up and knocking the kunai aside in a show of pure kenjutsu skill.

Neji landed on the floor before jumping away from the man, deciding to find defensibly for now. He cursed himself, the sword had thrown him off and knew that it had been a mistake to have been so affected by a simple change on the fight.

The man gave no rest and charged at Neji once more. He brought his sword back, preparing to strike but he never saw the smirk appearing on Neji's face. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" the Hyuuga began to spin as chakra surrounded his body. The man's eyes widened before he was violently hit all over his body and launched away from the sphere Neji had created.

The man landed in a painful thud and gasped in pain, feeling his old bones creak from the impact. He shakily stood up and looked at the youth in front of him. Some part of him believed that new generations were always stronger that the last but that part of him was long gone. He only lived to follow his master's orders now and that was what he was going to do. He began to take off his outfit, if he was to defeat the youth then he would need to give it his all.

Neji frowned as he watched the man rip his kimono off to reveal a mesh shirt and blue shinobi pants. The man then took out a liquid from one of his pockets and put it to his lips before taking a big gulp out of it. Violent blue chakra instantly flowed around the man, giving him a look of power.

"Behold my true power!" the man declared with a smirk on his face, "I will take you down for my master!"

'_I have no choice but to kill him,' _Neji concluded with a frown on his face. Whatever the man had done was getting dangerous and he still needed to make it out of the base in thirty minutes, _'I'll have to go all out.'_

* * *

Naruto frowned as he walked up a set of stairs. He really needed to find a way to control his clones' personalities. The clone he had sent with Neji was a talkative one that eventually led the Hyuuga to drive a kunai through its head. The blond knew that he would've done the same but it was still a rather hasty thing to do.

'_Now I have to finish this up a lot faster,' _he thought with a frown as he made his way to a large door. It had a stone snake on it that was cold to the touch. The blond opened the door to find himself in a giant room. It was circular and had no roof, it actually had a view of the sky that made him wonder if he was near the top of the mountain.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he muttered as five clones appeared beside him, "You know what to do."

"Yes boss/kiss my ass," said the clones as they got to work. Naruto sweat dropped at one of the clone's comments but ignored it for now. He would have them put an explosive tag around the room so that when they went off most of the mountain's rocks would bury the room. He had not found anything on the Cursed Seal but he hoped that somebody else had.

'_Poof'_

Naruto's eyes widened as he took out his blade and twisted to his left, blocking a large sword with a loud '_Clang.' _The blond met eyes with a muscular man with long spiky brown hair and dark brown eyes. He had a long-sleeved white shirt with black shinobi pants.

"You're pretty good kid," the man praised with a smirk, "Though not good enough. I have a tradition where I only tell my name to anybody who I deem a challenge. Do you think you'll be able to find out my name?"

Naruto chuckled with a smirk. "When I'm through with you, you won't even remember your name," the blond added chakra to his blade, causing the intertwined blades to catch sparks before Naruto's began to cut the bigger blade. The man frowned and jumped away from the blond.

"So you can add chakra to your blade?" the man muttered with a smirk. He held up his sword and watched the large cut it had on the blade, the blond was no pushover.

"What of it!" spat Naruto as he ran through hand signs, "Wind Style: Devastation!" wind shot out of his mouth, crashing against the man with a violent gust of air.

"Damn," the man muttered as he struggled to stand against the powerful wind. He began to lose his footing before being violently thrown away from the raw power from the wind. He crashed into a wall but suddenly turned to mud.

"A clone?" Naruto asked himself with a gasp.

"Correct," said the man behind him with his sword raised. He brought the sword down on the blond and smirked when he saw it make contact.

'_Poof'_

The man's eyes widened. "It was a clone?" he gasped out in disbelief.

"Correct," Naruto said behind the man as he stabbed a kunai to his back, making him scream in pain before kicking him away, "Now tell me what you know about the Cursed Seal of Heaven!"

"Why would I do that?" the man asked with a smirk on his face as he took out the kunai from his back, "Why would I stop a fight like this?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto growled with a frown. The man didn't answer but charged at the blond with his large seven feet sword. He brought it down on the blond, making him block with his blade but he suddenly spun to his right and threw his sword in the air.

The sword sailed through the air as the man spun behind Naruto. The blond threw a punch at the man but he simply took the hit without a wince. Naruto's eyes widened and threw another punch with the same result, _'What is this guy made of?'_

The man smirked as he caught the blade and struck Naruto in the head with the blunt end of the sword, making him grit his teeth in pain. The man didn't let up and punched at Naruto's chest but the blond proved to be too fast and jumped over the kick only to be punched away by the man's left fist.

Naruto fell to the floor but rolled with the fall and stood back up before launching at the man. He added chakra to his blade and swung at the man with his right fist. The man dodged the strike but the blond infused more chakra onto the blade and managed to cut the man on the ribs, making his smirk grow wider.

"That's it!" the man cheered Naruto on with a smirk as he threw a kick.

Naruto moved with the blow to soften the impact but still winced from the force behind the blow. He then jumped away from the man and dropped into his taijutsu style, he had been training on implementing Asuma's blade to the toad taijutsu style. The blond assumed that it was time to see the results of that training since the toad taijutsu style was a lot faster than the one he used with Asuma's blade.

"Isamu," the man said with an exited smirk playing on his face.

"What?" Naruto deadpanned with a frown.

"My name…" the man began as he charged at Naruto with his blade extended. Naruto narrowed his eyes as infused chakra onto his blade and charged at the man. The two blades met in a loud _'Clang' _followed by sparks coming from the two blades grinding against each other.

"Is Isamu!"

**Ch. 17 End**

**I'm kind of happy with how the chapter turned out, I feel that my writing has improved a little but that's just my thinking. Hope you liked this chapter. It had a lot of action that will continue next chapter, I hope I captured the fights well. Anyway thank you for reading and leave any questions if you have any.**


	18. The Failed Experiments

**Here's the next chapter guys. Sorry that it wasn't a fast update but I've been really busy between my job and school. Some idiot co-worker decided to take a vacation but didn't tell anyone! Because of the idiot I was stuck with double shifts all week, I was tired most of the time and didn't have much time to write. Next chapter will come a lot sooner so don't worry about this happening again. Anyway thank you for the reviews and I hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 18 The Failed Experiments**

"Light it up," Shikamaru ordered with a firm nod. He, Lee and Shino, with an unconscious Kiba on his back, stood outside of the base. A single explosive tag could be seen in the entrance, showing that part two of their plan had been accomplished, though there had been a setback since they didn't plan on being found.

"Understood," Shino calmly stated as he took out a kunai with an explosive tag wrapped around the handle. With a flick of his wrist he sent the kunai flying.

The kunai sailed through the air with a burning paper sound before crashing into the base's entrance.

'_BOOM' _

The explosive tag detonated in a large explosion that set off the rest of the tags around the base. Creating a massive explosion that kicked up dust that clouded the area. Rocks, walls and chunks of metal could be seen crumbling down and sailing through the air.

"Let's get out of here!" Shikamaru urgently said as he ran away from the massive explosion, standing next to an exploding base hadn't been his brightest idea. He was followed by his team into an area they deemed as secure and waited for the aftermath of the explosion to die down in order for them to make sure that not even a small part of the base stood.

"Looks like it's ov…" Shikamaru started but trailed off when he saw a small flicker of movement on the cloud of smoke.

"What's wrong?" Shino asked in slight concern.

Shikamaru frowned and took out a kunai. "Watch yourselves," he ordered. Before Shino could ask what was going on, a figure jumped out of the smoke.

"Damn YOU!" roared the figure as it landed in front of the team.

Lee gasped when he saw that it was the man they had been fighting, if he survived an explosion like that then they would be in trouble.

Shikamaru was having similar thoughts but didn't voice them. He took in the appearance of the man and knew that maybe he wouldn't be too dangerous. The man was badly cut all over his body, he bled from several places and his eye-patch had fallen off. He had his eye closed and black marks could be seen around it. _'Wait,' _the lazy Chunin stopped himself when he realized something, _'Why was he wearing an eye-patch if his eye looks intact even though its closed? He must be hiding something, but what?'_

"We can't fight here," Shino voiced, "Kiba and Lee are still hurt, it would be best if we put them somewhere safe."

Shikamaru nodded, without taking his eyes off the man. "Get them to safety, I'll hold him off as long as it takes. Just try to be back soon, it would be too troublesome to die here," he said with a serious look on his face.

"I'll be back soon," Shino affirmed with a nod as he took hold of Lee and fled the area.

"You won't be going anywhere!" the man roared before jumping after them.

'_Oh no you don't,' _Shikamaru thought as his shadow stretched beneath his feet and launched at the man. The shadow made contact with the man and held him in place, _'Shadow Possession success.'_

"I'm really starting hate your damned jutsu," the man growled as he struggled to get free, forcing his body to move against the powerful hold.

'_Damn it,' _Shikamaru cursed as the hold on the man began to loosen. It was taking every ounce of his strength and concentration to keep the jutsu active. His eyes widened when the man began to turn towards him in a slow pace. Soon their faces met and the man gave a smirk before opening his closed eye.

* * *

Neji dodged a chakra enhanced punch, watching with wide eyes as it broke part of the floor without making contact, just how much chakra was the man using? The fist made contact with the floor, instantly creating a large crater that shook the entire room, before using his arm for support and throwing a kick at the unsuspecting Hyuuga. The kick made contact with Neji's stomach with such strength that it blew him towards the room's wall with a loud crashing sound.

Neji fell on the ground with a thud and gritted his teeth in pain. His stomach was in agonizing pain, his back had several cuts from the impact on the wall and he was struggling to breathe right from the terrible strike.

'_I was careless,' _Neji thought as he got on his hands and knees. He bent his stomach slightly and felt a surge of pain go through his whole body, he began to cough violently before he vomited blood.

"This is the power my master gave me," the man said with his mouth in a thin line, "You were wrong to have come here."

'_I can't go on,' _Neji thought as he gasped for air, kneeling next to a small pool of his own blood. Flashes of his team's faces entered his mind, remembering that he still needed to meet them in a few minutes, he had to win and meet his team after all a Hyuuga never broke his word. _'I have to do this, I only need one attack to win,' _he thought as he began to stand, feeling his body protest against his wishes. He managed a kneeling position and shifted his weight to his left leg before pushing off of it, beginning to stand.

The man watched as Neji stood and frowned, part of him telling him that he didn't want this. He shook his head, that part of him had died long ago and he only lived for his master now. If this kid entered his master's base then he would have to die, simple as that.

With a groan Neji managed to stand on his two feet. He looked at the man in front of him and activated his byakuugan, he would keep his word. _'I won't lose here,' _he thought in determination, _'I have to meet my team.'_

Neji took a deep breath as he walked towards the man. He analyzed the man's chakra coils and knew what he had to do. He broke into a run and took out a pair of kunai, he would need perfect accuracy if he was to do this.

"Fool," the man muttered with an almost sad look on his old face, "Why must the young die?"

The man's chakra swirled around him before he charged at Neji in an incredible speed. The Hyuuga saw the man and spun to his right, now with one kunai on hand before taking another one out of his pouch. The man didn't seem to register this and charged once more, only this time he used chakra to enhance his speed. In an instant the man appeared right in front of Neji with his fist held back, ready for a punch. Neji saw this coming and before the fist could make contact, he managed to block it with his hand and cut off the chakra being poured into it.

The man's eyes widened when he saw the kid catch his punch before he used his left hand to punch him. Neji ducked under the punch and delivered a strong palm strike to the man's stomach, pushing him back enough to give him the time to jump away from him. A single kunai was on his hand before he took out another one, he inwardly smirked when he noted that the man hadn't noticed the lack of kunai.

"Give up now child and I'll make your death painless," the man suggested with a hint of sympathy on his words.

"You'll never beat a Hyuuga," Neji retorted with a smirk as he threw a kunai at the man but he easily dodged the projectile.

The man frowned. "I gave you a chance kid but I still respect your pride," he admitted before charging at Neji.

The Hyuuga slipped into his taijutsu style and hardened his gaze. The man threw a punch but it was easily knocked aside by the Genin. Neji responded with a palm strike to the man's left bicep, making him grunt in pain. The man threw a kick but the Hyuuga blocked it with both of his hands, now with no kunai on hand. Chakra left the man's enhanced knee before he used his left hand to punch at Neji. The Genin used the knee for leverage and jumped away from the man while taking out two kunai.

Before Neji could land on the ground the man launched at him once more. Neji saw the attack coming and threw the two kunai at the man, making him stop his run to dodge them before charging at him again. This small pause was enough for the Hyuuga to land on the ground and duck under the punch that had been aimed at his head. The man kicked at Neji but he managed to block it with both hands but couldn't stop the man's fist as it made contact with his chest, pushing him away with less strength than before.

"W-what!" the man gasped out when he noticed that his punch hadn't had the effect he desired. Neji smirked and pushed the man away with a well-placed kick to his chest.

The man grunted in pain and staggered backwards, the kick had probably broken something. He looked at Neji with a frown on his face, he had done something to his body. Something that made him unable to pass chakra to his limbs but he didn't know what.

"You lose," Neji stated with a satisfied smirk on his face as he took a single kunai from his ninja pouch. The man noticed that the kunai had a kind of seal wrapped around the hilt and frowned in confusion. "Now I'll show you…" chakra began to swirl around Neji as a blue light emitted from the kunai, "The power of the Hyuuga!"

* * *

"We're almost there," the Naruto clone gasped out through pants. It was no easy feat to run with Choji on its back, the clone thanked the original Naruto for having trained in order to handle it.

"Good," Ino agreed as the light at the end of the hallway got closer. They had been running away from the woman they had encountered earlier since it wasn't smart to fight her in a place with no much room.

Suddenly there was an echo in the hallway, throwing everyone off, before the ground began to shake and pieces of the floor and walls began to break. "Let's get out of here!" the clone exclaimed as it ran faster to the exit with Ino in tow.

Ino turned back and saw the woman running towards them, she would need to fight her alone since Choji was hurt and the clone would dispel after one hit. "I'll handle her," she told her teammates.

"W-What?" the clone gasped out in surprise.

"Don't worry, just get Choji to safety and I'll try to beat her," Ino assured with a serious look on her face.

"D-don't worry about me Ino," Choji said as he got off the clone's back, panting slightly, "I was only hit on my back, I'm still able to fight even though it hurt."

"What!" the clone roared in rage, "You mean I was carrying you all this time, when you could've just walked!"

"That's right," Choji said with a nod.

"Damn you," the clone muttered with a clenched fist.

"Enough of your comedy act!" the woman snapped. "I'll kill you for your insolence!" she brought her staff down but before it could make contact with the ground it was knocked away by a water bullet.

"Water Style: Raging Waves," Ino exclaimed as she put a hand around her lips and shooting a powerful stream of water at the woman.

The Sound ninja saw this coming and jumped away from the attack but was suddenly hit by a giant fist that threw her away from the two ninja and the clone. "Let's go," the clone ordered as they ran out of the base.

"I'm going to kill those kids," the woman growled with hate on her visible eye. She brought her left hand to her mask and tore it off her face, unleashing a powerful purple chakra.

* * *

'_CLANG'_

The sound of metal on metal echoed through the large room. Naruto and Isamu locked blades with sparks coming from the power behind them. Wind chakra poured around the blond's blade and it begun to cut through the man's large sword. The man noticed this and used his free hand to slap Naruto away.

The blond was pushed away from the Sound ninja and studied the man. Isamu would surely win at strength but he still had the upper hand since his chakra enhanced blade could overpower the man's bigger blade. The man's sword had a simple black hilt wrapped in black bandages, a red stone peeked out of the bandages matching the large red blade of the sword. The blade now had many cuts but it would still hold from the looks of things.

"You're a fun guy," Isamu admitted with a smirk on his face. He stabbed the sword into the ground and began to stretch his arms, "It's been a while since I fought someone who could put up a fight. By the vest you wear I assume you're a Chunin, correct?"

"How do you know about ranks?" Naruto interrogated with a frown on his face, "Could it be that you were a ninja before?"

Isamu smirked and put his right hand on the handle of his sword. "You're pretty sharp to have guessed that," he praised, "I was a ninja once upon a time but I never really belonged there. My superiors often scolded me since I didn't believe in protecting the weak, I've always believed that a weak person is of no use. They might as well be dead. Lord Orochimaru believes this as well which is why I follow him in the first place but when the time comes I'll kill him and be the new leader of Sound!"

Naruto frowned. "You're a really screwed up person, did you know that?" he asked as he dropped into his taijutsu stance.

Isamu only smirked before taking the sword out of the ground and charging at Naruto. The blond infused chakra onto his blade and ran at the man. Both ninja brought their blades forward but before they could make contact, the blond sidestepped with a small jump before launching at the man once more. The Sound ninja could do nothing as the blond's blade cut through his right ribcage. Blood splattered out of the wound as Naruto kicked at the wound.

The man cried in pain before swinging his sword at Naruto. The blond saw the attack and managed to jump over it but not without receiving a cut on his right leg. He twisted in the air and threw a smoke bomb at the man's face. Causing Isamu to break into a fit of coughs as smoke filled the area, blocking Naruto from view.

"Damn it!" Isamu cursed as he tried to find the blond through the smoke, "Where did he go?"

"I'm over here," came Naruto's voice from behind the man, making him turn around.

"No, I'm here!" his voice came again but now from Isamu's right. The Sound ninja looked around in confusion, how was the blond moving so fast?

"I'm here!"

"No, here!"

"I'm over here you bastard!"

"You need to calm down."

"What? I'm always calm."

"Not you… him!"

"Me! You idiot I'm not even loud!"

"There's more than one?" Isamu asked himself, "Is he using clones?"

Soon the smoke was cleared from the area revealing hundreds of Naruto clones surrounding him. Isamu gulped, from the looks of things they were solid clones and it would be dangerous to fight them all.

"H-how can he use so many?" Isamu gasped in disbelief.

"We're one of a kind!" the clones exclaimed.

"Get him," the original Naruto ordered from the wall he stood at with his arms crossed.

"Alright!" they cheered as they launched at the man in a frenzy of punches and kicks.

'_I have to get back to the others,' _Naruto thought as he watched his clones attack the man, _'I'm not sure if my clones will manage to finish him though.'_

Suddenly a dark purple chakra erupted from the man, instantly dispelling all the clones that surrounded him. "What the hell is that?" Naruto asked himself as he watched the chakra illuminate the room.

* * *

The Sound ninja watched as blue chakra flared around Neji. The kunai he gripped on his right hand glowed a blue color before shooting a beam of light behind the man. He turned around to see that the light had enveloped one of the kunai the Hyuuga had scattered across the room. A beam of light shot out of the discarded kunai and hit another kunai Neji had thrown.

The man's eyes widened, Neji had planned this all along. He watched as one by one the seven discarded kunai were enveloped and connected by a blue light. From the looks of things he was surrounded by the blue streams of light. He tried to move but found that he couldn't, it was as if his body was being constricted. His eyes widened when the blue light turned a deep green color, whatever it was wouldn't be good.

"It's a seal," Neji explained in a calm voice, "This is one of the Hyuuga secret jutsu that were made with the aid of sealing. It's extremely hard to set one up but its power makes up for that setback. It first pushes gravity against you from where the seals, or kunai in this case, are located; making it impossible for you to move since they're all pushing against you."

"How does this attack end?" the man grimly asked.

"The chakra around the seals bursts in a high temperature that will kill a person on the spot," Neji informed with a serious expression on his face, "You were indeed strong but it seems as if I prevailed on this fight."

The man could do nothing but stare at the young ninja in front of him. It was indeed true that the new generations were always better than the previous ones. Part of him felt glad to see such promising youth while the other was ashamed at his inability to fulfill his master's wishes.

"_I love you gandpa!"_

The image of a young boy with jet black hair filled the men's thoughts, reminding him of his past life. Tears filled his old eyes, memories coming back to him. Memories of the old days that held his most painful and happy moments. Memories that he had thrown away when he had come to Orochimaru in an attempt to ease his pain. _'At least, I had a purpose back then,' _he glanced at Neji through teary eyes and smiled, _'I'm glad, I'll be able to see my grandson again.'_

The green light enveloped the area where the man had been standing, lighting up the whole room from the burst of charka. Neji watched the attack with a calm look, it had been his duty as a ninja to kill the man and he had seen the look the man had before dying. It was the look of a man that was happy with his fate, as if he were glad to leave this world.

The light died down revealing that nothing remained of the man. Part of the floor had melted and the ground had a deep red glow from the high temperature of the attack. Neji gave one last glance at the area before turning to leave, his mission had been successful.

* * *

Ino panted as she leaned against a tree, next to her was Choji with a tired look on his face and the Naruto clone that kept a steady gaze on the base's entrance. There was no doubt that the woman would be coming so it was best to rest as much as they could before fighting her again. The clone wouldn't need any rest since it was just a mass of chakra.

She gazed at the clone and frowned. There was a cut on the clone's left leg and it looked kind of deep. A thought entered her mind and she gasped. "Is Naruto okay?" she asked the clone with a worried look.

The clone sighed. "I told you before, I can't see what he sees," it explained with an annoyed look.

"Then why is there a cut on your leg?" Ino asked with a frown.

The clone looked at its left leg and found a deep cut. He put some pressure on the cut and winced. "W-what? What happened to me?" it yelped, "C-could it be that I'm the real one and yet I haven't noticed it? Am I insane now from the constant use of clones?"

"Calm down," Ino said with a sigh, "I'll just ask Naruto later." The clone looked a little agitated but nodded regardless.

"Ino look!" Choji exclaimed in shock as he pointed at the base. Ino quickly turned around to see a purple light coming from the entryway.

"What is that?" Ino wondered out loud.

A figure covered in purple chakra exited the base in a slow pace. Ino squinted her eyes to make out the figure and her eyes widened when she noticed who it was. It was the same woman she had been fighting but something was obviously off.

The chakra died down to reveal the woman's new appearance. She now had darker skin, her fingernails had grown into claws, the left side of her face resembled a snake's head, her black hair was spikier and a tail had grown out of her lower back. The woman's black eyes landed on Ino before smirking in amusement, she wouldn't go easy on the kids anymore.

"This looks bad," the clone muttered with a frown before facing the two Genin, "I'll try to land a hit on her. I'm probably going to get dispelled so hit her when you see an opening. The boss will probably get here after he sees you're in trouble."

"Right," Choji agreed with a nod.

The clone nodded at them with an affirmative smile before charging at the woman with its blade out. The Sound ninja saw this and extended her right arm towards the clone. Purple chakra launched out of her hand, shooting towards the clone. The clone saw the chakra coming and jumped high in the air to avoid being hit. It then took out a kunai and launched it at the woman but it was blown away by the intensity of the purple chakra.

The woman jumped straight at the clone with her fist held back, concentrating the foul chakra onto her fist. She held a smirk on her face but it left her face when she noticed the clone had a smirk of its own. The sound of burning paper came from the clone and her eyes widened when she saw the exploding tag attached to the clone's vest.

'_BOOM'_

Ino watched as the clone exploded with a frown, no matter if it had been a clone exploding, she was still a little shaken about watching him die. She was broken out of her thoughts when she saw the woman falling to the ground.

"How…?" Choji gasped out in disbelief as he saw the woman flip on the air and land on her feet. She was in a bad condition with the right side of her skin burned and most of her clothes tattered.

"You damned brats!" the woman screeched in fury. The foul chakra swirled around her in a show of raw power, "I will kill you for this!"

"This is it Choji," Ino muttered with a serious look on her face, "We have to use our teamwork to win, hopefully Naruto or Neji will get here to help us later."

"Right," Choji said with a frown on his face, "Let's do this."

* * *

'_Ino!' _Naruto thought as the clone's memories entered his mind. He watched Isamu in front of him with his greatly changed physical appearance. His shirt had been ripped off, his muscles had increased in size, his hair had turned a deep green and finally his skin had turned a dark gray color, _'I have to end this fast or else Ino might get hurt. That woman was easily high Chunin level.'_

"Let's get round two started!" Isamu announced with a smirk on his face.

Naruto frowned and ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" Wind shot out of the blond's mouth and hit the man dead on. Isamu didn't show any sign of struggle and charged at Naruto in a fast speed, making him wonder just how much his power had increased.

The blond watched as Isamu approached and infused chakra onto his blade. The Sound ninja brought down his sword to meet the blond's but this time they stayed locked in place. Naruto's eyes narrowed at this, his advantage was now gone due to the man's new power. Using his left hand the blond charged up a wind ball and slammed it into the intertwined blades, causing Isamu's blade to snap in half.

Isamu's eyes widened and screamed in pain when he felt Naruto's blade run through his torso. He tried to move away but the blond delivered a hard kick to his chest that made him fall to the ground with a thud.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as clones filled the area. The army of clones jumped on top of the Sound ninja before Naruto began to run out of the room, he didn't have time to fight the men.

'_I have to get to Ino now, they won't be able to beat that woman alone,' _Naruto thought as he sped through the hallways of the base. As he ran he made a few hand signs and held the Ram seal in place, _'I'll only use the ones on that room, I don't want that guy to follow me.'_

"Have fun with this bastard," Naruto muttered as he used his chakra to activate the exploding tags he had left on the room.

* * *

'_A SHARINGAN!' _Shikamaru thought in alarm as he stared at the man's opened eye. His hold on the man was instantly broken before he launched at the Chunin. The lazy genius took a kunai in hand and threw it at the man, smirking when he saw the man dodge.

The man landed in another one of Shikamaru's shadow and was instantly immobilized. "Dammit!" the man roared in rage. He began to struggle but the lazy Chunin was prepared for it now and was able to hold him in position.

'_That wasn't a sharingan,' _Shikamaru concluded as he went over thought on his head. The eye he had seen was red but, unlike the real one, it had three small purple triangles around a triangular black pupil. _'But what was it?' _he asked himself, _'He's power increased when he uncovered it, could it be a type of bloodline I haven't heard about?'_

"Damn you!" the man roared as the marks around his right eye began to expand around his face. Shikamaru winced as the man began to apply more force, making it harder to keep him in place, "I'll kill you!"

Shikamaru struggled to keep control, applying more force on the hold with his hands shaking from the amount of chakra he was using. "Damn it," he muttered with a grimace, "If this keeps up I'll be out of chakra soon."

"Then let me assist you," came Shino's voice as he landed near Shikamaru, making the lazy Chunin sigh in relief.

"About time you showed up," Shikamaru joked as he kept his jutsu in place.

Shino nodded before turning to the man. "I'll take care of him," he muttered as he extended his right hand with bugs flying out of his sleeve. The bugs launched at the immobilized man and began to take his charka away, making the man scream in pain.

"You can let him go now," Shino informed when he noticed that Shikamaru was still struggling to keep his jutsu in place. The lazy Chunin let his hold drop and watched as the man screamed in pain from the swarm of bugs but those screams were silenced when bugs entered his mouth, "My bugs will take away all of his chakra, it's over."

"Good," Shikamaru sighed out with a nod, "This was getting way too troublesome."

"I won't die here!" the bug-covered man roared as a vile dark purple chakra surrounded him. Almost instantly, the bugs fled from the man due to the horrible chakra.

The man's appearance began to change into a more animalistic one. His skin turned a light gray, his hair turned white and his whole eye turned black with four small yellow triangles on the middle.

"W-What is that?" Shikamaru muttered in shock through heavy breathing.

"This…" the man began with a glare at the two ninja. The chakra died down but the raw power coming from the man could still be felt, "Is your end!"

In an instant the man appeared next to the two shocked ninja. A pair of purple arms came out of his stomach and struck both ninja on their chests. They were thrown away several feet but before they could regain their footing, the man appeared next to them once more. Another pair of arms came out of his chest and took hold of the two ninja in a tight grip.

'_I can't move,' _Shikamaru cursed as the arm that held him squeezed the life out of him. He could feel some ribs breaking from the tight grip but couldn't even make the slightest sound of discomfort. Only short gasps came out of his mouth. He threw a glance at Shino and noticed that he was on his same position.

"You're dead," the man stated in a deeper voice, smirking at the look of pain of his victims.

"Fang Over Fang!"

The man couldn't react as two spinning blurs crashed against his side, making him drop his hold on the two ninja. He screamed in pain as he was blown away by the intensity of the attack and crashed through a tree. Kiba and Akamaru landed next to the two ninja with content looks on their faces.

"You didn't think I would actually lay down and let you do all the fighting," Kiba said with a smirk on his face.

Shikamaru chuckled and shook his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm glad you're here Kiba," he joked with a smirk on his face. Kiba chuckled in return before turning towards where the man had fallen.

The man began to stand with blood dripping down his left arm. He glared at the three ninja and gritted his teeth. "I'll kill you all," he growled as he began to move towards them but was suddenly dealt a powerful blow on the stomach by a green blur. He got the wind knocked out of him before he received a roundhouse kick to the face that sent him away.

Lee stood in front of the man on his taijutsu stance. "Lee?" Shino asked in shock, when he had last seen him he didn't look too good and now he was standing in front of an enemy.

Lee grinned. "I could not let my teammates fight alone," he explained, "If we're going to fight an enemy then we'll do it together."

Shikamaru grinned. "Alright then," he watched as the man began to stand with fury on his face. A smirk made its way to the lazy Chunin's face, his whole team was together and it would be a lot easier to beat the man, "Let's end this."

**Ch. 18 End**

**The chapter ends here guys. The next chapter will come soon so watch for updates. Remember to leave any questions (if you have any) and thank you for reading!**


	19. First Bases Destroyed

**I bring a new chapter today. Thank you for the positive feedback and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. The last chapter was a little chaotic because of all the fights going on but it was necessary for what I have planned. All other answers will be answered on this chapter, I hope it's of your liking. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 19 First Bases Destroyed**

Ino and Choji stood in front of the angry Sound ninja, her staff forgotten inside of the base. She had a look of pure fury on her face since she hadn't expected kids to give her too much trouble. It was a kind of relief to be able to feel something after all that she had been through but she didn't care much, not anymore at least. Right now she would kill the brats that dared to, not only hurt her but to show her horrible face. She was only an experiment but she still hated showing what was behind her mask, it reminded her that she was nothing but a tool.

"Choji…" Ino whispered to her teammate, getting his attention, "How much chakra do you have left?"

Choji looked thoughtful for a second before giving her a firm nod. "I have more than half right now since I haven't used a lot. How about you?"

"I'm about the same as you," she responded with a small smile on her face, "We might be able to stall her long enough so let's give it everything we have and don't let up."

Choji chuckled. "You're really starting to act like Naruto," he observed with a grin on his face. Seeing the glare Ino was throwing at him, he added quickly, "B-but that's not a bad thing."

A chuckle broke the two ninja from their conversation. They both turned to the source to see the woman with a smirk on her face. "Oh, don't mind me I was just thinking of ways to kill you," the Sound ninja said in a deeper voice, "Should I play with you a little bit or just outright kill you?"

"Let's go Choji," Ino whispered to her friend as she ran through hand signs before putting a hand around her mouth, "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

As soon as the shot of water escaped Ino's lips, Choji ran at the woman with his fist held back. The woman sidestepped the shot of water but her eye's widened when a giant fist came her way. Using her tail, the woman knocked aside the punch and broke into Choji's defenses. The Genin's eye's widened as the woman punched at his face but before it could make contact she was knocked away by a couple of liquid bullets.

"Did you forget about me?" Ino taunted with a smirk on her face.

Choji put some distance between himself and the woman before throwing a glance at Ino. "Thanks for the save," he said with a grin.

"You damned brat…" the woman muttered with a glare as she walked towards them as if nothing had happened, "Did you really think that such a pitiful attack could hurt me?" Before anyone could react she appeared next to Choji with a smirk on her face, "Die." The woman's tail quickly wrapped around Choji's neck, making him choke and gasp for air.

"Choji!" Ino exclaimed in worry as she ran through hand signs, "Water Style: Raging Waves!" A shot of water came out of her mouth and launched at the woman in a fast speed. The woman simply smirked and took the attack as if it were nothing, making Ino gasp in disbelief.

"Foolish girl," the Sound ninja said with an amused smirk on her face, "I am invincible thanks to Lord Orochimaru." She tightened her grip around Choji's neck, making him struggle against the hold but to no avail. Choji was losing consciousness at this point and tried his hardest to find the slightest amount of air to breath.

A whistling sound echoed through the area. The woman looked to her right to see a kunai making its way to her. By the speed of the projectile she could tell that it would be capable of hurting her. With no other choice the woman let go of Choji and jumped away in order to avoid the kunai.

Choji instantly gasped for breath as he landed on the ground and broke into a fit of coughs. His neck was already starting to bruise from the grip the woman had had around his neck. He turned to see his savior and gave a small smile when he saw Neji standing on a tree branch with a kunai on hand. His clothes were a bit tattered and light pants came out of his mouth, showing that he had been on a fight of his own.

"Are you alright?" Ino asked as she ran to Choji's side.

"I'm alright," Choji informed with a grin on his face, "I'll just need to rest for a little bit."

"Sure don't worry," Ino said with a nod as she turned to the woman, ready for round two.

"I'm glad I made it on time," Neji said in a calm voice. He looked at his teammates and inwardly frowned, they looked tired and in Choji's case badly hurt. Being on the Chunin exams with them had shown him that they were at high Genin level. If the Sound ninja was able to handle both of them at the same time then she was probably around low or even high Chunin level, too much for even himself.

"Another one?" the woman asked incredulously, "Just how many of you are there? No matter, I'll kill you regardless."

"It won't be as easy as you think," Neji responded with a calm look, "I've just defeated one of your colleagues by myself, do not take us lightly."

The woman chuckled in amusement. "Fool, do not put me on the same page as the other fools. Only one person here has beaten me before and I know for a fact it wasn't whoever you beat."

Neji's eyes narrowed. "And how do you know that?" he asked in anger and a slight hint of worry, "I don't see any other Sound ninja around here, how do you know he isn't dead?"

"Easy," the woman said with a smirk, "If you had killed him then I'd be dead by now."

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked in confusion.

"Our master gave us each a set of different skills," the woman began, "I for example am the fastest out of all three experiments on this base. While another is the strongest and the last one is the most skilled with any kind of weapon. Lord Orochimaru met with us and decided on who were the strongest out of the three of us. He chose me and another to be bearers of the curse mark but under some circumstances mine mutated and turned me into this."

"So what you're telling us is that there is another Sound ninja that ranks above you?" Neji asked with a frown.

"That is correct," the woman affirmed, "Lord Orochimaru gave us all a seal. If any of the other experiments die then nothing happens but if the most powerful experiment dies then the seal activates and we explode into a million pieces."

"What's the point of telling us this?" Ino questioned with a frown on her face.

The woman broke into a smirk as purple chakra flared around her. "Because…" she disappeared from sight in a cloud of smoke, making everyone look around in alarm. Neji activated his byakuugan and his eyes widened. The woman appeared right in front of him with her right fist held back, "You won't live to tell anyone about it!" She punched at Neji and hit him directly on the jaw with a loud 'pop.'

The Hyuuga sailed through the air before crashing to the ground with a cry of pain. The woman didn't stop there and charged at Ino with a crazed look on her face.

Ino quickly got into her family's hand sign and aimed at the woman. "Mind Destruction Jutsu!" she exclaimed as the woman stopped dead on her tracks. Ino managed a small smile when she saw that her jutsu had worked, she had panicked a little seeing the woman charge at her but all was well in the end.

Neji stood up shakily, nursing his sore jaw and walked over to Ino. He raised a brow when he saw the woman standing up in front of Ino with a look of frustration on her face. "What happened to her?"

"She's under my jutsu," Ino replied through gritted teeth, "She'll break out soon so try to finish her before I lose my hold on her."

Neji didn't need to be told twice and charged at the woman. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" he exclaimed as he prepared to strike but was suddenly knocked aside by a powerful punch before painfully crashing against a tree.

Ino's eye's widened when she saw a hulk-like man with gray skin and green hair. The woman saw the shock on the girl's eyes and struggled to get free. Ino felt her hold on the woman lessen until she finally broke free, much to Ino's dismay.

"What are you doing here?" the woman snapped at the newly arrived man.

The man smirked and turned towards the base. "I met someone _strong_," he said, savoring the word, "The idiot thought that I wouldn't escape an explosion he detonated but he couldn't be more wrong."

The woman growled at the man. "Wait for the bastard then, but don't interrupt my fight," she clenched her fists, "If you ever do that again I'll kill you."

The man smirked. "You and I know that you won't do that. If I go down then you're dead as well," he had a look of amusement as the woman kept on glaring at him.

Ino and Choji watched the exchanged in worry. If what the woman had said was true then he was the strongest of the experiments. The situation got a lot worse in only a few minutes.

Neji groaned as he tried to sit up. He had crashed against the ground pretty hard and his back was letting him know that. He watched the two Sound ninja with a frown, the woman was strong but the man had completely slipped his detection. He was a Hyuuga and someone managed to sneak up on him, but there was also some hope, unlike his teammate he knew who the man was talking about. It was obvious that they were the only group of ninja inside the base so it was logical to assume that Naruto had been the one to fight the man.

'_Get here soon Naruto,' _Neji thought as he began to stand. He knew that they had no chance against both ninja but maybe if the whole team fought together then their chances would go up. Naruto was a Chunin of Konoha, probably the village with the highest standards when it comes to promotions. He himself was low Chunin level, while Ino and Choji were high Genin level, they might just have a slight advantage.

Isamu looked at the Genin with a frown, none of them looked strong. He wondered how they had given trouble to a Sound ninja, much less one that was blessed with power from their master. He suddenly snapped his head towards the base, feeling a familiar chakra, and smirked, "He's here." (Linebreak)

"Fang Over Fang!" Two spinning blurs launched at the Sound ninja in perfect accuracy.

"I won't fall for that twice!" the man exclaimed as he watched the move with his improved eye. He easily dodged the attack with a jump before he spun in the air, avoiding a cloud of bugs. He landed on the ground and raised his right knee to meet Lee's kick. He gritted his teeth when he felt the force behind the kick and used his right hand to punch the Genin away. Lee was knocked aside but the man's eyes widened when he saw a shadow approaching him. He quickly jumped away from it only to be met with a cloud of bugs.

Not missing a beat the man threw a smoke bomb at the bugs, successfully blocking himself and his scent. He landed on the ground and gritted his teeth in anger, the kids were everywhere at once it seemed impossible to get a good hit on them. Even with the power his master had given him, it would be hard to beat the group of kids.

The unmistakable sound of an exploding tag reached the man's ear before he jumped away from where he had been standing. An explosion set off behind him but he didn't have time to dwell on it since the green-clad ninja was charging at him once more.

Lee threw a right hook but the man easily dodged the hit by leaning to his right. He continued with a kick but the man tossed it aside as if he knew what was about to happen. Lee continued to throw punch after punch but none of them landed as the man seemed to dance around the strikes with ease. The man suddenly winced in pain and brought a hand to his right eye, giving Lee the perfect opportunity to attack. He brought his fist to the man's face with great force, snapping his head to the side before he fell on the ground.

The man tried to stand but found that he couldn't move. "That shadow again," he muttered with a frown on his face.

"Exactly," Shikamaru said as he approached the man along with his team. They all had tired but determined looks on their faces, showing that they were ready to fight at any moment, "Now you're going to tell us what we want to know."

The man chuckled. "What makes you think I will?" he asked with a smirk on his face, "Do you really believe that you've won? Don't make me laugh! I could break out of this hold any time I want."

To prove his point the man began to force his body to move, making Shikamaru wince and drop his hold. Having wasted most of his chakra the lazy genius couldn't keep a firm hold on the man. The group watched as the man put some distance between them, they instantly dropped into their fighting stances and waited for the man to make a move.

"You're all finished," the man stated with a smirk on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked with a frown on his face.

The man pointed at his right eye. "This is one of my master's gifts, a new kind of bloodline that will give me more power!" he exclaimed, "This eye is one of the attempts my master has made in order to make a better version of the sharingan. My eye is one of many but the best of them all, it has no name yet but it will! My eye is superior to any other! This eye will be the last thing you see before dying!"

'_Fool,' _Shikamaru thought as he watched Lee and Kiba charge at the man. Their superior taijutsu drove the man back, even if he used his 'superior' eye. There was no way that the man's eye had the same effects as the sharingan, if it did then why didn't Orochimaru have one himself. From what he heard from Jonins and Chunins, Orochimaru wanted a sharingan more than anything.

Lee threw punch after punch at the man with Kiba doing the same. The man was having trouble reading their moves and felt a burning pain coming from his eye. He didn't know what was happening with it, his master had told him that it was perfect. The man doubled over when he received a hard punch on his abdomen followed by a kick to his face.

The man was knocked away and put a hand to his burning eye, what was happening? Bugs suddenly flooded his vision and he noticed that he had been led to a trap. Since it worked before, the man released his foul purple chakra and smirked when he saw the bugs fly away from him. He tried to move away but found that he had been possessed by the shadow once more, he growled.

"You don't seem to get it," he began with a snarl, "You can't hold me here, I am too strong!"

"Who says I'm trying to hold you?" Shikamaru asked with a smirk on his face, "I'm just placing you in my trap."

The man's eyes widened when he heard the sound of burning paper. He scanned the area with his eyes and growled when he noticed that he was completely surrounded by explosive tags. "This won't do anything to me!" he exclaimed in rage, "I will kill you brats! My master gave me the most powerful bloodline in the world! I won't die, I can't die!"

"You're finished," Shikamaru stated as the explosive tags exploded around the man.

The man's screams of pain echoed through the area, making Kiba and Akamaru look away from the blast. Fire consumed the area and the man's screams seized, telling Shikamaru that the fight was over. Smoke filled the area, blocking the man from view but the smell of burning flesh told the group that they were successful. The smoke soon dispersed to reveal the burnt body of what had been a Sound ninja, they had been successful.

"It's over," Shikamaru stated with a sigh of relief, glad to be done with the first part of their mission.

Shino nodded in agreement. "It would be best if we rest before completing the next part of the mission," he suggested with a hint of hope on his voice.

"That sounds good, right Akamaru?" Kiba asked, receiving a happy bark from the small dog.

"There's no need for breaks!" Lee shouted in determination, "We can go without rest for the rest of the mission! If we can't then I'll walk to Konoha on my hands!"

Shikamaru sighed. "We have to meet the other team tonight. The meeting spot is close by so we'll be able to take a rest," he stated with a yawn, "Let's get out of here. We'll make camp and rest for a few hours, if the other team's base was anything like the one we were assigned to then I know for a fact that they'll take a rest too."

The group nodded in agreement. Shino supported Lee, since his leg wasn't fully healed, before the group of ninja leapt away from the area. It had been a hard mission and they only hoped that the next base wouldn't be as bad as the first.

* * *

Naruto stood on a tree branch with his invisibility jutsu up. He had a clear view of his team from this area and knew that he had to help them somehow but charging at an enemy was not smart. He would need a diversion in order to get the drop on them, but what?

"He's here."

Naruto froze and cursed for not hiding his chakra signature like he was supposed to. He would need to fight or else his team would be hurt, it didn't make things better to have his whole team outside with them.

'_Wait a minute, that's it!' _he thought with a grin on his face, _'They're all outside…'_

"Come on out kid!" Isamu yelled with a smirk on his face, glad to fight the Chunin once more, "If you don't then I'll ki-"

'_BOOOOOOM'_

An explosion rocked the area as half of the mountain became enveloped in a series of explosions. Chunks of rock, metal, even trees sailed through the air due to the power of the explosion. A powerful wind from the blast rocked the area, making the group of ninja shield their eyes from the incredible blast.

The two Sound ninja stood motionless, their base had been destroyed and all of their master's research was ruined. They swore to themselves to kill the group of ninja that had destroyed their master's work, they only lived for their master and would gladly die for him. No brat would get away with such an insult.

Ino watched the explosion in fear, hoping that Naruto hadn't been caught in it. "Please be alright…" she muttered to herself in worry. She frowned when she noticed something, a shadow moved through the smoke in a fast pace, "What's that?"

"I'll kill them all," the woman exclaimed in rage as she turned her attention to Ino and Choji, "I'll start with you two!"

Ino ran through hand signs but suddenly felt dizzy. Her heart fell, she was out of chakra. Having kept the woman in place for too long had certainly taking its toll on her reserves. She glanced at Choji and gritted her teeth, her friend was in no better condition. The only way to fight back would be without chakra but she wasn't good at hand-to-hand combat.

The woman walked towards Ino before running through hand signs. She pointed her palms at Ino and smirked. "This is where you die. Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu!" she exclaimed as a human-sized dragon shot off of the ground and launched at Ino, who could only watch helplessly as the attack approached her.

Before the attack could make contact a blur appeared before Ino and stopped the attack with its hand. The earth dragon was instantly destroyed revealing Naruto standing in front of Ino with an spinning sphere on his right hand.

"N-Naruto…" Ino muttered in disbelief, tears forming on her eyes.

"It's you!" Isamu exclaimed with a smirk on his face, "Now we can end our fight."

The jinchuuriki turned his face to the other Sound ninja, his Rasengan dispersing. His fists clenched, this was the woman that had almost killed Ino, his most important person. The woman flinched when she took a good look at the kid. He had blue slit eyes, deep whisker marks on his cheeks and fangs peeking out of his mouth.

"You damned bitch," Naruto growled in pure fury, making the woman wince at the tone, "You'll pay for trying to hurt Ino!"

The woman got over her shock and smirked. "What are you going to do about it brat?" she taunted, "I'll kill you and you're little whore in a second."

Violent blue chakra mixed with demonic red, flared around the jinchuuriki. He phased from view only to appear in front of the woman, making her feel something other than fury, fear. The jinchuuriki placed a hand on her stomach and focused his chakra. The woman's eyes widened at the feel of pressure building up in her stomach.

"Rasengan…" he muttered as the attack came to life and drilled into her abdomen, making her cough up blood before being launched away from the jinchuuriki. She crashed against a tree with a gaping hole on her stomach. The woman fell on the ground dead, not being able to take such an attack.

Naruto didn't look phased as he turned his attention to Isamu. The Sound ninja only smirked in amusement, the Chunin was proving to be really interesting. "Thanks you for that," Isamu said in amusement, "You don't know how much I hated her."

Choji watched Naruto in slight fear, he had never seen him act to cold-hearted before. It was as if Naruto was a whole different person. Neji had similar thoughts but viewed the Chunin in a new light, someone who would do anything to protect his team. His respect for the blond had increased a considerable amount.

Ino watched Naruto in worry. She was afraid of having him use the fox's chakra since she knew that it wouldn't do him any good. He had told her that demonic chakra was red and it was the most dominant color on his chakra at the moment.

"N-Naruto," Ino called out in a quivering voice, trying to be strong for him.

"What?" Naruto asked while glaring at the man, ready to spring into action and put an end to his life.

"Stop it," she demanded though a little weak. The Chunin ignored her and took out his blade, infusing chakra onto it and making it expand a few feet, "Stop it Naruto!"

The jinchuuriki turned to Ino with a frown on his face. "Why should I? These bastards tried to kill you, do you think I'll let them off that easily?" he snapped in anger, more red chakra surrounding the jinchuuriki, "I'll kill them all!"

"This isn't you Naruto!" Ino snapped with tears on her eyes. Naruto's red chakra wavered and began to lessen, seeing the desperation on Ino's face, "You told me that you hate using it. Do you know how it makes me feel to make you do something you hate? Please Naruto stop using it! You don't need it, you can protect us without it!"

Naruto watched as a few tears fell from Ino's eyes. His red chakra began to disappear, she was right. It wasn't really him protecting them, it was a damned fox looking for a fight through him. He felt the burn around his skin and closed his eyes in an attempt to calm the rest of the fury he felt.

He opened his eyes to reveal that they were back to their round electric blue. Ino gave him a smile that he returned, he would protect her with his own will. He wouldn't let the fox affect his decisions and if he really needed to use the chakra then he would make sure he had mastered it, he turned to Neji and gave him a nod. If they were to take down Isamu he would need all the help he could get.

"Let's fight now!" Isamu announced with a smirk. His sword nowhere to be seen and burn marks around his skin, showing that he had been affected by the explosion back at the base.

"Let's go Neji!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran at the Sound ninja.

Neji ran at Isamu from the opposite side while channeling chakra onto his palms. Isamu smirked at the challenge and jumped in the air before slamming his feet on the ground. The earth began to shake before large spikes of rock came out of the ground. The two Leaf ninja jumped in the air in order to avoid the attack before Naruto turned to Neji and gave him a firm nod.

"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Neji exclaimed as he landed on the ground, destroying each earth spike around him. Naruto landed next to him and ran through hand signs.

Isamu saw this and charged at them, keen on stopping the jutsu. As he got closer, Neji charged at him in a fury of open palm attacks. The Sound ninja was forced to dodge from the speed of the strikes, Neji just wouldn't let up his attacks.

"Now Neji!" Naruto exclaimed as Neji gave one last strike before jumping away from Isamu, "Wind Style: Devastation!" A powerful wind came out of the Chunin's mouth, taking rocks with it and launching at the Sound ninja.

Isamu smirked and jumped away from the attack, his improved physical ability had increased his skills several times. His thoughts were interrupted when Neji launched at him with his arms held back. The man smirked and threw a punch at the Genin, who used both hands to block the attack with a wince at the strength behind the punch. Neji was pushed back by the force and flipped in the air before landing on the ground.

Isamu landed on a tree branch and suppressed a groan when he saw clones all around him. He raised a brow when he saw that all clones had kunai on their hands. The small army of clones threw the kunai before extending their palms. "Wind Style: Gale Palm!" the clones exclaimed as the kunai gained a tremendous amount of speed.

Isamu frowned and jumped away from the barrage of projectiles but not before a few kunai embedded themselves to his right leg, making him wince in pain. He landed on the ground with a cry of pain at the feel of pressure on his leg before he reached down and ripped out the kunai, one by one with an angry look on his face.

"I got you!" Naruto yelled as he ran at the man with a Rasengan on hand.

Isamu smirked and ran at the Chunin with one of the kunai on hand. Before the Rasengan could hit, the Sound ninja threw the kunai at the Leaf ninja, landing right between his eyes.

'_Poof'_

The smirk on Isamu's face vanished and snapped his head to the right at the sound of footsteps. Neji charged at him, intent on finishing the fight. The Sound ninja slammed his hands on the ground, making an earth spike appear right in front of the Hyuuga. Neji could do nothing as he ran into the spike, his chest being pierced.

'_Poof'_

"Another clone!" Isamu snapped in disbelief. Two giant hands suddenly wrapped around him, keeping him in place.

"Up here you idiot!" Naruto exclaimed from high in the air as he dived towards the immobilized Isamu. The Sound ninja began to struggle against the hold but found that the Genin was too strong. The Chunin extended his right hand, swirling chakra turning into a sphere, "This is it for you!"

"No, dammit! Let me go you freaking kid!" Isamu screamed at Choji in an attempt to break free of the grasp.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as the attack made contact with Isamu's skull. The force of the attack forced the man's body to dig into the ground, in a show of pure power. The Rasengan met the ground in a small explosion, kicking up a cloud of dust and blocking the Chunin from view.

Neji panted as he leaned against a tree, most of his chakra gone. "D-did he… do it?" he asked himself.

The smoke cleared to reveal Naruto kneeling on the ground next a hole that had been filled by the rubble the attack had caused, making a burial of kinds. He turned to his friends and gave a wary smile, they had finally finished with the first base.

Ino walked over to Naruto with a small smile. "You did it," she said with a proud look on her face, "I told you that you didn't need to use it!"

"Right," Naruto agreed with a chuckle before standing up with a bit of trouble, "It was all thanks to Choji getting back into the fight at the last minute."

Choji grinned. "I just held him, I didn't do much," he said with a chuckle.

"It seems we're finally done," Neji said with a weary look on his face, "Now all we have to do is meet with the other team and get to the next base."

"Yeah…" Naruto sighed out with a tired look of his own. Summoning clones that could use jutsu, though weak ones, took a toll on his reserves save for the clone that had been running with a rock henged as a Rasengan. Right now he probably had about one-fourth of his chakra left, to some it might be too much but since his body was accustomed to such an enormous amount of chakra, he felt extremely drained, "Let's take a break first though."

"Sounds good," Ino said with a smile on her face, "But before we do that…" She took hold of Naruto's shirt and pulled him into a quick kiss, stunning everyone. The Chunin got over the shock and returned the kiss, it was just like the first except that they were both more comfortable with it. It was still an innocent kiss with a bit of curiosity and the warm feeling of the affection they held for each other. The two broke the kiss and smiled at each other, "Now I'm ready for my break."

"Me too," Naruto agreed with a smile on his face as he took Ino's hand and walked away from the base. He turned his head back to the rest of the team and grinned, "Let's go guys. I saw a lake close to here, we can rest there."

Neji and Choji stared at each other with looks of shock, "Did we miss something?"

**Ch. 19 End**

**There's the chapter guys. This chapter came a lot easier to write for some reason, but I'm glad I'm done with the first bases. I hope you liked this chapter and leave any questions if you have any. **


	20. No Holding Back

**Sorry for the wait but I've been really busy lately. My co-worker got fired and they just hired a new person so I'll have a lot more time to write now. Anyway, I would like to thank all of those who took the time to review and add this story to their favorites and alerts. Now I'll answer some of the questions that were left.**

**I know that it looks like I'm changing the Rasengan's ability from time to time and I'm sorry, I planned on explaining why this happened but it completely slipped my mind. The Rasengan (in my story) digs a little into its victim before bursting and causing great internal damage, they are thrown away from it because of the power behind the burst. I didn't change what the Rasengan did last chapter, rather I couldn't really write it. Please remember that the story is rated T and I can't write about a Rasengan digging into a skull before bursting and leaving nothing but a deformed bloody pulp instead of a head, I'm pretty sure that is not allowed.**

**About the review saying that Kabuto would have died because of the Rasengan, allow me to explain. I planned on writing this in a future chapter but it's okay if I talk about it now since it doesn't really reveal much. The reason why Kabuto was able to survive a Rasengan to the back is because, like Orochimaru, his body has been altered in order to sustain powerful attacks. The two have been using experiments on themselves in order to make them resistant to powerful attacks. If you remember correctly Kabuto wasn't even able to heal himself normally after being hit by the Rasengan, this was done to show the limits of their enhanced resistance. **

**Because of the Rasengan's capabilities I've thought of changing the rating to M in order to write the capabilities of the attacks without the need to hold back on how bloody it may seem. I decided to leave this to the reader so please review to answer the following question: **

**Would you like me to change the rating to M in order to show more realistic fight scenes? **

**I've kept you long enough so please enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 20 No Holding Back**

Night fell on the quiet forests that stretched around the Land of Fire. Shikamaru, Shino, Lee and Kiba leapt from tree to tree, hoping to make it to their destination soon. Soon after their break they had set off again. Lee's and Kiba's wounds had been patched up with the little medical knowledge the group had. The other two hadn't been too hurt aside from having a light case of chakra exhaustion and were okay to travel after a quick rest.

As of now they were getting closer to the western border of the Land of Fire. They had passed many small rivers and Shikamaru instantly knew that they were almost to the Land of Rivers, where one of the Sound's bases was said to be. It bothered the Chunin to have been assigned with such a mission since he didn't think that they were really ready since their conflict with Sound could be seen as a kind of war.

Shikamaru shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. He was close to his destination and he had no more time to think on the matter.

"We're stopping here," he suddenly declared, breaking the utter silence that surrounded the forest. He landed on the ground with no trouble and turned to his team, watching him do the same. A frown appeared on his face when he noticed the wince on Lee's face when landing.

"Why here?" Shino asked in a calm voice. They had stopped in a small clearing near a cliff with a river running on the bottom of it. A waterfall could be heard in the distance but couldn't be seen due to the darkness of the night.

Shikamaru crossed his arms and sighed. "We're waiting for another team to show up, remember that," he stated with a tired look on his face. "There's no doubt that they have a tracker ninja or someone with those kinds of abilities on their team. We're close to the next base and this spot is hidden from where it supposedly is, yet we'll still be visible to the other team."

Lee grinned. "A much youthful decision," he praised in his usual cheerful voice, "It always warms my soul when a ninja thinks of others first. Such an act of youth! Such a beautiful flame!"

"Calm down already," Kiba growled in an annoyed tone as he nursed his ears, having been standing next to Lee hadn't been one of his brightest ideas. Akamaru barked in agreement as it jumped to Kiba's head.

"But such an act of youth demands praise," Lee argued with a frown.

"Enough," Shikamaru sighed out, "We're supposed to be quiet or else we'll be spotted."

"He's right," Shino agreed as he leaned against a tree, still feeling a little fatigue from the earlier fights.

"Who are we waiting for anyway?" Kiba asked with a cocky grin, "I bet they aren't stronger than us but let's just hope that they'll be able to keep up."

Shikamaru sighed once again, his assigned team already getting on his nerves. "The Hokage chose the teams," he began with his gaze on the star-filled sky, slightly disappointed at the lack of clouds, "I'm sure that the Hokage sent a group of smart and mature ninja."

* * *

"Naruto and Ino sitting in a tree!" sang Choji with a smile on his face.

"Will you shut up already!" Naruto and Ino exclaimed with matching blushes on their faces. Choji simply chuckled and turned his gaze away from them with a knowing look, making the two blonds think that telling their friends about their relationship hadn't been a smart idea.

Neji simply watched the three ninja with an amused grin. They had been like this for a few hours and yet he never grew tired of Naruto and Ino's flushed expressions whenever Choji would tease them. It was all good fun and he felt glad to be part of it, not like before when he would look at people in annoyance.

"We're almost there anyway so be quiet," Naruto growled with the blush still on his face.

Team Naruto had been on the move for a few hours. They had taken a small break in order to check over each other's wounds and found that Choji was the most hurt, though it was only a few cuts on his back. The rest of the team had suffered from a case of chakra exhaustion, though it wasn't too serious they were forced to take a rest.

Seeing the large number of rivers in the distance, Neji frowned. "Haven't we been here before?" he pointed out with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Yeah," Naruto answered with a grin, finding Neji's annoyance amusing.

"Then why are we going through here again?" Choji wondered, "Why didn't we just stop here before going to the other base?"

Ino sighed. "If I find out that you got the wrong base, you'll regret it Naruto," she threatened in a tone that made Naruto gulp in fear.

"O-of course not," he assured with a nervous laugh. "There's a base around here but we were supposed to take care of it with the help of another team since there's more ninja in this one."

"More enemy ninja?" Neji asked with a frown.

Naruto's face grew serious as he continued to leap from tree to tree. "Yeah… hopefully not like the last ones we fought," he stated, "Even with the help of another team, I'm sure we wouldn't survive it."

Those words brought silence to the team as they continued on their way to the last base. They knew that Naruto was right since they had barely scraped by due to getting surprise attacks on their enemies. If they needed the assistance of another team then that meant that the next base was more dangerous than the first, they only hoped to be able to return to the village in one piece.

* * *

Shikamaru yawned as he stretched his body. He sat on a branch of a tree with a clear view of the surrounding area. There was no moon today meaning that everything was pitch black, with the only source of light coming from the small fire they had going. It had been almost an hour and there was still no sign of the other team. He guessed that the other team had run into some trouble on their base. An irritated sigh left his lips, if they weren't back then he would need to give them backup somehow.

"I got something!" Kiba suddenly exclaimed.

'_Or not,' _Shikamaru thought with a sigh of relief, glad to have one less thing to worry about.

"But it smells familiar…" Kiba muttered with his arms crossed, "What do you think Akamaru?" The small pup barked in agreement as it smelled the scent that was growing stronger.

"Maybe it has to do with us being from the same village," Shino suggested.

The Inuzuka nodded. "That might be it," he said with a thoughtful look on his face, he was sure he had smelt it before but it was still too faint to tell.

"Well then let's go meet up with them," Shikamaru ordered as he jumped off the branch and landed on the ground, "We've already wasted enough time, let's just get this over with already."

"Such determination!" Lee praised with a grin on his face, "I say we meet up with them!"

"Might as well," Kiba stated with a shrug as he jumped up a tree.

"Kiba should lead, his nose should be able to guide us," Shino said as he prepared to leave, dispersing the small fire they had going.

"Right," Shikamaru agreed as he turned to Kiba, "Let's go."

* * *

Naruto watched the distant waterfall with a small smile, it reminded him of his first training session with Jiraiya. It seemed so long ago yet it had been only a month since he first met his master, a very perverted man that held to that perversion with pride. The sage was a very complex person he had found out. Despite the way he acted, Jiraiya kept many secrets and would rarely give out any sort of hints and if he did then they were incredibly complex. He knew for a fact that Jiraiya hid things from him but didn't really question him, if the sage kept his mouth shut it was for a reason. He dismissed those thoughts, he was in the middle of a mission and couldn't afford to mess up.

The team was running alongside a cliff, choosing not to go through the trees this time since the darkness would cover them easily. There was a dense forest to their side but it ended on the rocky ground that the team was currently in; a river could be seen at the bottom of the cliff and many caves scattered throughout it, though some were barely visible due to the lack of light. From what Naruto heard, this particular base was located _in_ the cliff meaning that it should be in one of the caves. Several ideas on how to take care of the base had already entered his mind but they would only work if the base was really where it was supposed to.

The Chunin's eyes suddenly narrowed as he skidded to a stop, raising a hand to his team. The three Genin stopped on their tracks and looked at Naruto in slight worry. "Neji, activate your byakuugan and tell me if you see anything," he ordered with a frown.

Veins appeared around Neji's eyes, showing the activation of his bloodline. The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes when he spotted four chakra signatures going straight at them.

"There's four of them, but…" he informed with a little hesitation.

Ino frowned when she noted the slight hesitation on Neji's voice. "But…?" she asked as she motioned him to continue.

"I'm not sure but from the looks of it I'll say three of them have Genin level chakra while one of them is around Chunin level," Neji stated with a frown.

"So what's the big deal?" Choji asked, "We're around the same level so it'll be easy to beat them."

"That's exactly it," Naruto pointed out with his gaze never leaving the dense forest, "If they're around our own level then they're probably the team we were supposed to meet."

"So what do we do?" Ino asked with a sigh.

"Wait…" Neji began with his byakuugan still looking ahead, "There's one more chakra signature though small."

"How small?" Naruto asked with a raised brow.

Neji shook his head before breaking into a smirk. "Inuzuka dog small," he stated with a hint of relieve on his voice as he deactivated his byakuugan.

"Good," the Chunin sighed out, "Let's wait for them here since we're closer to the base."

"I have arrived!" came a loud cheerful voice from the woods. Lee jumped out of the woods and landed in front of the group, with a light wince.

"I take it you're part of the back-up team?" Neji assumed with his arms crossed.

"Yes I am," Lee said with a grin on his face, "It's good to see you all made it!"

Ino smiled, happy to see a familiar face. "Of course we made it," she stated with a smug look, "We have the best team of the village, there's no way we'll be beaten."

"What are you talking about?" a voice came from the woods as Kiba, Shikamaru and Shino landed in front of them, "When you say best team, I'm pretty sure you mean us."

"Whatever dog breath," Ino responded with a frown on her face.

"Why you…" Kiba growled in anger. Ino had always been a person he really couldn't stand. Ever since the academy he found her to be annoying for her attitude in general. He crossed his arms with a frown, he was really getting tired of her.

"It's great to see we get to work with familiar faces," Shikamaru stated with a small smile.

"You said it," Choji answered with a smile of his own, "We get to have Team 10 together for this."

"So how did you're base go?" Naruto asked Shikamaru with a grin.

The lazy Chunin sighed. "It was way too troublesome. So troublesome that I don't want to even talk about it now," he sighed out, remembering the trouble they went through. "What about you guys?"

Naruto chuckled and crossed his arms. "It was hard but we managed," he admitted with a small smile.

"How should we go about the next base?" Shino wondered out loud.

Neji nodded in agreement. "It's best to think of a plan beforehand," he said, throwing a glance at the ever impatient Lee.

"Well I was thinking of-" Naruto started but was interrupted when Kiba busted out laughing, finding the turn of events to be funny.

"Are we really taking ideas from Naruto?" he asked, putting emphasis on the Chunin's name. "He was the dead last of the academy, why are we taking orders from him. I admit that he's strong but he's still an idiot. The loser can't even lead Choji to a bag of food and you expect him to come up with a plan?."

"That's enough!" Ino yelled with a glare at the Inuzuka. The fool had just insulted two very important people to her and she wouldn't stay quiet, "What makes you think you can talk to them like that? They are twice the shinobi you'll ever be. Just for the record, Naruto is the Chunin here not some flea-infested mutt!"

Kiba growled in anger, she had just gone to far. Nobody insulted him and got away unscratched. He snarled before taking a step towards Ino but stopped when he felt a hand grip his shoulder. He growled and turned to see Shino standing behind him, shaking his head in disapproval.

"What gives Shino? Why did you stop me?" he asked in annoyance.

Shino simply pointed ahead of them to the blond Chunin that glared at Kiba with his right fist clenched, ready to fight if need be. "I was not stopping you, rather, I was preventing you from being badly hurt," he stated, remembering how the blond had defeated Gaara, "You're lucky you didn't take another step."

Naruto simply glared at Kiba, daring him to take another step towards Ino. The mutt would be unconscious before he could even reach her. He suddenly felt a hand on his own, he turned to see Ino with a sad smile on her face. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, telling him to calm down. He sighed, deciding that starting a fight with Kiba would only endanger the mission.

"Fine," he muttered as he turned to Ino and gave her an apologetic smile. Ino smiled back and gripped his hand a little tighter.

Shino let go off Kiba's shoulder and watched as his teammate relaxed. The Inuzuka looked a little mad but Shino knew that he wouldn't do anything stupid again. Naruto was clearly stronger and wouldn't hesitate to attack Kiba if he threatened to hit Ino.

"How do we handle the next base?" Shikamaru cut in, trying to lighten the situation before it got out of hand, "My team tried to use stealth but we ended up failing badly."

The blond Chunin sighed before turning to Shikamaru. "Let's just end this already," he deadpanned, "I don't think that we'll need to place any explosive tags inside the base since we can just destroy it by blowing part of the cliff off. If we want to do this right then we have to finish with the base before the enemy has time to even know what's going on while at the same time making them look away from our real objective, getting the information we need. Why don't we just have someone look for the research papers while someone distracts the enemy ninja outside? That should give the chance to enter the base undetected because they'll be focused on the fight."

"That sounds like a smart plan. We can't afford to risk sneaking through the base since they could have tracker ninja," Shikamaru agreed with a nod, "Any ideas on who's going into the base?"

Naruto nodded. "I think that you and the rest of Team 10 should go in... with Kiba. He has good tracking skills and he'll be able to find an exit fairly fast," he suggested with his hand still gripping Ino's, "I'll be able to hold off the enemy ninja with Neji, Lee and Shino. We have the high ground so it'll be easy."

"That does make sense," Shikamaru muttered with a serious look on his face, thinking of any other options before letting out a tired sigh, "Fine let's do it your way, we'll contact you when we're done. When are we moving?"

Ino rolled her eyes when she saw the determination in Naruto's eyes, he was just too impatient despite how much he had changed. _'I guess that's what makes him Naruto,' _she mused with a small smile, _'I bet he's about to say-'_

"Right now," Naruto announced with a determined grin on his face, "Why should we wait anyway? The faster we get through this the better."

"I'll go tell Choji," Ino informed, knowing that Naruto would probably want to continue talking to Shikamaru.

Naruto watched Ino leave with a small smile. He turned to Shikamaru and his face grew serious. "I really didn't want Kiba going into the base with Ino," he stated. Shikamaru nodded in agreement, knowing that Kiba wasn't on the best of terms with her. "I want you to take care of her. I know it was selfish of me but I put you and Choji with her so that you could watch over her."

Shikamaru sighed with a grin. "She's important to us too," he said, "I see her as a sister and Choji does too. There's no need to worry about her, we'll make sure she's safe."

"Thanks Shikamaru," Naruto responded with a smile, feeling a lot better to know that Ino would have someone watching over her. He knew that she was capable of defending herself but he couldn't help but feel worried. "Good luck," he said with a grin.

"What do we need luck for," Shikamaru said with a grin, "We'll be running around the base, you're the one that'll have to deal with the Sound ninja." (Linebreak)

Some time later Naruto, Neji, Lee and Shino stood on top of the large waterfall that overlooked the cliff, waiting to make their move. According to their simple yet dangerous plan, they had to make a big diversion that would alert most of the ninja at the base. It was no surprise that Naruto would handle this part of the mission, big entrances being his old specialty.

"How are you going to get their attention?" Neji asked, turning his gaze to the Chunin.

A foxy grin made its way to Naruto's face as he took out a single kunai. "We'll just knock on their door," he explained as he wrapped an explosive tag around the kunai's hilt. "Get ready."

With a flick of his wrist, the kunai sailed through the air in a fast speed. The four ninja watched as the projectile headed for the lower part of the cliff, not wanting to bury the base before the other team could look around it. As the kunai grew closer to the cliff Naruto took out his blade, Neji activated his byakuugan, Lee got into his taijutsu stance and Shino gathered bugs on his arms.

'_BOOM' _

The kunai crashed against the cliff in a loud explosion that caused many boulders to break off of it. In an instant a Sound ninja came out of one of the caves, looking around for any intruder. His eyes landed on the group of Leaf ninja and instantly called for back-up.

Naruto watched as more and more enemy ninja came out of the caves around the cliff, they jumped on the river before charging at them with the intent to kill. "Let's go!" the Chunin ordered as he jumped off the waterfall with a kunai held on his left hand. His team jumped after him, ready to fight.

The Chunin watched as more Sound ninja came closer and threw the kunai at the side of the cliff with a whizzing sound. The kunai exploded against the top part of the cliff, making a small landslide. Boulders and sand fell from the cliff, towards the oncoming group of ninja.

"Scatter!" One of the Sound ninja ordered as they tried their best to dodge the boulders. The apparent leader moved through the boulders easily but found himself unable to dodge a particularly large boulder. He raised his fist and punched at the rock, shattering it to thousands of pieces as if it were nothing.

The group of Leaf ninja landed on the river with ease and looked at the mess they had caused. Rocks were being carried away by the current while some boulders were sticking out of the water. A crimson color could be seen in the water and a much shorter number of Sound ninja charged at them in fury.

Naruto watched the leader with a frown, he would prove to be trouble. The man had a tall and lean body with short brown hair, black eyes and a scar running from his forehead to his jawline. He looked strong but he still had tricks up his sleeve.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the Chunin exclaimed as ten clones appeared at his side, "Do it now guys!" The three Genin took out two kunais each and launched them at the group as the group of Naruto clones ran through hand signs, "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

A stream of wind came out of each clone's palms, making the kunai go even faster. The group of Sound ninja was taken aback by the speed of the kunai and stopped on their tracks before jumping away from the incoming projectiles.

The leader stood behind his group of ninja, glad to see that they had dodged the attack. "What?" he asked himself as he narrowed his eyes on the water. His eyes widened, there were shadows in the water, "Look out from behind!"

Three Naruto clones jumped out of the river, catching each of the kunai in hand. The group of Sound ninja could do nothing as the clones launched the weapons at them, with the light sound of burning paper. One of the ninja's eyes widened when he saw the burning tag on the kunai, they were all explosive.

'_BOOM' _

The kunai exploded against the group of Sound ninja, kicking up a large cloud of smoke. The leader of the Sound ninja frowned, his ninja had been easily fooled by a surprise attack. He couldn't blame them though, he had been almost fooled himself. Those Sound ninja had been around Genin level, nothing but trash in his opinion, he was actually glad that some of those weaklings had died. He would much rather fight without them but some things seemed a little off. He didn't understand why a group of Leaf ninja would attack so openly, it didn't make sense, they would usually attack as discretely as possible. He was sure that they had some kind of plan but he had no idea what it was.

The smoke cleared to reveal Naruto standing next to his team with his blade on hand. The Sound ninja frowned, it had been a group of kids that had been able to take out a platoon of ninja as if they were nothing. One of them had a Chunin jacket on, meaning that he was the leader of the group of kids. Things made more sense now, kids liked to show off their skills without really thinking. It was rare for young ninja to have plans but he wouldn't take it easy on them, he would go all out.

"I guess I should applaud your performance but surprise attacks are the only way Leaf shinobi attack like the cowards they are," the Sound ninja said with a frown on his face. The green-clad ninja frowned but the rest of the team seemed to keep their emotions in check, "You're no ordinary bunch. I'll have fun killing you." Black marks stretched around the man's face, making Naruto's eyes widened.

'_Those are the same markings as Sasuke,' _he thought with a frown on his face. He remembered that Sasuke's abilities would increase overall but it would make him paranoid, maybe this base would actually hold some information.

"I'll kill you here and now," he announced with a smirk on his face as his marking began to meld together, making his skin turn a light black color. His eyes turned black with yellow irises, his hair turned gray and grew up to his mid-back, fangs came out of his lips and two bat-like wings came out of his back. "Remember this brats…" he began in a much deeper voice as a vile purple chakra swirled around him. A whirlpool formed beneath his feet from the intensity of the chakra, he began to flap his wings, kicking up strong winds that pushed the group of ninja back. The Sound ninja broke into an evil smirk, "I am Katsu! One blessed with the powers of Lord Orochimaru! I will prove myself to him and kill you!"

**Ch. 20 End**

**Chapter was a little short today and I'm sorry for that, it just seemed like a good place to stop the chapter. Anyway, this chapter was a little hard to write and I wasn't really happy with how it turned out. Please remember to answer the following question: **

**Would you like me to change the rating to M in order to show more realistic fight scenes?**

**Thanks for reading and remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	21. Cursed Seal Level 3?

**I bring a new chapter today. I would like to thank all of those that took the time to answer my question. Let me tell you first that the rating won't change the story much since it will only serve to really show what jutsus are capable of. This doesn't mean that I'll put unnecessary violence randomly throughout the story, that would only affect the credibility of the story. Also, there won't be any lemons in the slightest. The characters are still too young for that and I want to take the relationships at a steady pace.**

**The rating will change to M only because of violence, but like I said before, I won't put any unnecessary scenes just because I feel like it. **

**I'm glad one of my reviewers asked about the training trip since I have several ideas on it. I'm thinking about making it a small spin-off of the story where Naruto's most important training and events will be addressed. It wouldn't be too long, 10 chapters at most, but it would serve to show you how Naruto will learn new things. So I have to ask you a new question:**

**Would you like me to make a side-story about Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya? If I do make the side-story it **_**won't **_**interfere with the sequel, it will still come out immediately after this story. **

**Anyway I've kept you waiting too long, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 21 Cursed Seal… Level 3?**

"This doesn't make any sense…" Shikamaru muttered with a frown on his face.

It had been a few minutes since his group had taken the chance to sneak into the base. Kiba took the lead with Choji right behind him, Ino walked behind the Akimichi with a wary expression on her face and lastly, Shikamaru walked behind the group. This formation had been set up in case of trouble. Kiba could easily tell them if an enemy was coming, Choji could overpower anyone who came their way and if they went past him then Ino could use her family jutsu to stop them all together. The Chunin was walking behind the group since he would be the one to analyze any kind of problem, if an enemy ninja appeared then he would be the one to make a quick plan.

Since they had entered the base Shikamaru had gotten a serious case of déjà vu. The base was an exact replica of the last one he had been to, the halls were the same dimensions, the same snake pattern adorned the floors and walls, and there was a scarce amount of light. He couldn't think of a reason as to why the bases were all similar, it would make it easier to move around since he was familiar with it but it was still rather odd. There had to be some kind of reason for this and he couldn't think of one, it worried him.

His frown deepened when he noticed that they were approaching the end of the hall. A single metal door could be seen at the end of the hallway, meaning that Kiba had been right. Earlier, Shikamaru had asked him to follow any scent that appeared unnatural.

"What now?" Kiba asked with a frown on his face, "There's some scents inside of the room. I'm sure we can't just walk in."

Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms. "This is a real bother…" he turned to Ino, who had a worried look on her face. It didn't surprise him in the slightest, he was a little worried himself, his friends were facing a large number of Sound ninja after all. "How good are you in genjutsu?"

Ino snapped out of her daze, turning to the lazy Chunin. "I'm not sure," she admitted, already knowing what Shikamaru was thinking due to being teammates, "Kurenai-sensei has only taught me a few genjutsu. I guess if I had enough time then I could hold off the people in the room for a few minutes."

A smirk appeared on Shikamaru's face, pleased at the circumstances. "That's more than enough time," he turned to the rest of the group with the smirk never leaving his face, "Here's what we'll do."

* * *

"Die!" Katsu exclaimed in glee as he flew towards the group of Leaf ninja.

"Spread out!" Naruto ordered as he leapt away from the water he had been standing in, his team doing the same. He landed on the cliff's wall and ran at the Sound ninja with his blade on hand. Charka ran down the blade as the Chunin jumped to Katsu's flying figure.

The Sound ninja smirked and leaned to his right, avoiding the blade but not the chakra. A large cut graced his right shoulder, making him snarl in anger. He turned to Naruto but was suddenly attacked by a flurry of punches. The Sound ninja used his wings to cover the attacks but growled when he felt small bites on his back. Bugs covered most of Katsu's back, taking as much chakra as possible. Shino stood on the cliff's wall with his arms extended, sending more bugs towards the Sound ninja.

Lee continued to attack at the man's wings but found them to be too hard, blood came out of his knuckles but he wouldn't let up. He turned an eye to his right to see Neji running towards the man in a fast speed. The Hyuuga leapt at the Sound ninja and landed a hard palm-strike as the man's side, making him scream in pain. Katsu squirmed due to the attack, unknowingly giving Lee the opportunity he needed.

"This is it!" Lee exclaimed as he threw a punch between the two wings. A loud cracking sound was heard as his fist broke through the wings and struck the man's chest.

'_Dammit…!' _Katsu thought as he struggled to breath.

Neji struck at the man's right arm, cutting off one of his chakra coils. He followed by a kick but the Sound ninja used his left wing to knock him aside. The Hyuuga was struck by the wing and slammed towards the cliff's wall with a cry of pain.

Lee immediately replaced Neji and continued to attack endlessly. The Sound ninja's defenses were going down with every strike, the bugs had taken their toll on his body and it was starting to lose a considerable amount of chakra.

'_I can't win against all of them at the same time,' _Katsu figured as his wings continued to block each of Lee's attacks.

A small blue light shone on the dark cliff, lighting up the face of the blue-eyed blond. Naruto's right hand held a charged up Rasengan as he gave a blank look at the man. Without a word the Chunin, using the cliff's wall as leverage, launched at the Sound ninja with his right arm held back.

Katsu's eyes widened, he knew that the attack would be the end of him if he didn't do something. _'I have to use it…' _he decided as he watched the Leaf Chunin closing in on him, _'I won't die here Lord Orochimaru. I can't!'_

Naruto's eyes widened when he felt a sudden spike of chakra coming from Katsu. It felt dark, evil, powerful, it felt like Orochimaru. He gritted his teeth and extended his right hand, he would kill him before that chakra came out. As he inched closer he saw Katsu's expression go from worried to confident.

"I'll kill you!" Dark purple chakra surrounded the man before enveloping him in a kind of orb. Shino's bugs were instantly incinerated before the force of the chakra blew Shino and Lee away.

Naruto's Rasengan met the man's chakra in a powerful collision. Wind kicked up, whirlpools formed on the water and parts of rocks were chirped off the cliff. Neji, Lee and Shino had to shield their eyes from the two attacks, too much wind and light came from the collision and it was almost impossible to see.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he tried to get through the vile chakra. His eyes widened when the Rasengan began to disperse but he wouldn't give up his only chance. He began to pour more chakra onto the Rasengan, making it spin even faster than before and grow in size. The orb of spinning chakra began to dig into the man's purple chakra, much to the relief of the blond Chunin.

The Rasengan continued to dig into the purple orb of chakra until another type of chakra began to leak out of the man. Naruto stared in disbelief as a wave of black chakra enveloped the man before pushing against his attack. The Rasengan was enveloped by the black chakra and grew on size as it began to shake uncontrollably.

"Shit…" Naruto growled out as the attack became harder and harder to control. It was already too unstable with his added chakra and the black chakra had only made it worse. He watched as the Rasengan began to waver before it exploded on his hand.

The Chunin was blown away by the explosion and slammed against the cliff's wall in a painful thud. He fell from the wall and landed on a small ledge back-first. Naruto groaned in pain as he slowly sat up and raised his head to meet Katsu.

Black chakra erupted from his body with such ferocity that it kicked up large gusts of air. Neji, Lee and Shino stood on the entrance of a cave with worn out expressions on their faces, but their determination still glimmering in their eyes. This is what made Konoha shinobi great, it wasn't their individual power but their shared belief. They would not give up under any circumstances and would fight until the end.

The black chakra began to die down, giving the outline of a beast where Katsu had been standing. The four Leaf ninja gasped when they saw how the Sound ninja had changed. His wings had expanded as had his now deep black hair, his fangs had grown past his chin and his eyes had turned a deep purple. He had grown large claws on his hands, black fur now covered his upper body and he had grown a long black tail.

Katsu gave a crazed smirk, black chakra swirling around him. "What's wrong Leaf ninja?" he mocked in a much deeper voice. He extended his arms towards the sky and laughed, "This! This is my power! The power of my master!" Naruto, Neji, Lee and Shino dropped to their perspective taijutsu stances in anticipation. "I'll show you the power he gave me!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he took out his blade and held it tightly, wind chakra flowing through it. He moved to attack but as soon as he did, Katsu appeared right in front of him with an amused smirk. Before he knew what happened, the Sound ninja grabbed him by the face and slammed him against the cliff's wall.

"What's wrong you trash?" Katsu mocked as he drove Naruto into the wall once again, never letting go off his face, "Can't you fight back?" The Sound ninja laughed as he continued to knock the Chunin against the wall, blood spluttering out of the blond each time the back of his head met the rocky wall.

Neji, Lee and Shino leapt at the Sound ninja in desperation, Naruto wasn't even struggling under the hold anymore. Katsu smirked and raised his chakra, making it swirl violently around him. The three Genin were blown away by the evil chakra and could only watch as the man continued to slam their friend against the rocky wall that was now dripping with blood.

Naruto could do nothing as the man continued to hurt him, he didn't have the strength anymore and his head felt like it would explode from the amount of pain he felt. He could hear the man laughing as he drove his head into the wall, he could also hear his friends trying to attack the man but he knew it was in vain. Nobody could save him now.

"**Foolish human," **the Kyuubi's voice echoed throughout the blond's mindscape. An image of the fox's smirking face appeared on Naruto's mind, **"I won't die against such a lowly opponent. I am the Kyuubi! I command you to keep going!"**

Red chakra leaked out of the Kyuubi and made its way onto Naruto's system. The Chunin tried to resist it but the fox had put way too much chakra to control. In cases like this he would simply use his own chakra to lessen the effects of the fox's influence over him but he didn't have much chakra at the moment. The fox knew this.

"**I have given you some of my power," **the fox growled out. Naruto could feel the chakra closing his wounds and enveloping him on the unwelcomed warmth, **"Now go and kill the fool that dared put my life in danger!"**

"Die!" Katsu exclaimed in glee as he drove Naruto into the wall once more. His eyes were closed and his body was limp, this was surely the killing blow.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, catching Katsu off-guard. Red chakra flared out of the jinchuuriki and he glared at the Sound ninja. "You foolish trash… DIEEE!" the jinchuuriki roared in anger as his red slit eyes flared in anger and the red charka enveloped the area around him, burning Katsu's skin before knocking him away from the Kyuubi-container.

"What are you?" Katsu asked himself as he watched Naruto roar in rage.

The red chakra wrapped around Naruto, taking the shape of a fox with a single tail. The jinchuuriki growled in anger before launching at the Sound ninja. Katsu saw this coming and threw a punch. Naruto caught the punch, making the Sound ninja scream in pain as his hand was being burnt by the red chakra. The jinchuuriki punched at Katsu but he used his wings to cover the blow.

The jinchuuriki's eyes narrowed as he applied more force onto his hand, the red charka growing even hotter than before. Katsu gritted his teeth as Naruto tried to get past his wings. The jinchuuriki's fist began to break through the wings, making the Sound ninja scream in pain.

Naruto smirked in amusement as he heard Katsu scream. With one last push, his fist broke through the wings and crushed against the man's chest, making him scream in agony. The jinchuuriki then took hold of the man's ankles and jumped in the air before he hurled him to the cliff's wall, kicking up a large dust cloud.

The jinchuuriki waited for his prey to move and his smirk grew when he saw black chakra coming out of the dust cloud, the fight would be interesting after all.

"Is that really Naruto?" Lee gasped out in disbelief. He along with Neji and Shino could only watch the fight, it was clearly out of their league.

"My bugs are terrified of his chakra," Shino informed with a frown on his face.

"His chakra has changed…" Neji observed with his byakuugan active, "His normal blue chakra is almost gone but his body is being overwhelmed by a weird red chakra."

Lee frowned. "What does that mean?" he had no idea how you could have two different chakras, "I'm sure whatever it is, it's not very youthful."

"I wish I knew what it meant," Neji admitted, "We just have to wait and ask him about it."

"It appears so," Shino agreed with a nod.

* * *

Ten Sound ninja stood on their base with impatient looks on their faces. They could hear a battle raging outside but their superior, Katsu, had told them not to interfere. It was rare for Katsu to give an order, since he preferred to ignore everyone, but when he did it was better to obey otherwise you'd be dead. It seemed like someone had attacked the outside of the base and nobody had gotten in since there had been no signs of movement.

Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and Kiba walked through the group of Sound ninja as quietly as possible. Ino had casted a genjutsu on the ninja but it would disperse if they were touched by someone. This genjutsu replayed a person's last five minutes and since they had been on guard then it appeared as if nothing was really happening. This was one of Kurenai's original jutsu and she had decided to pass it down to Ino. Or course the jutsu was a lot stronger than this, since this was only a less powerful form of the genjutsu.

The team found a door and sighed in relief, they had gotten through without much trouble. After getting an okay from Kiba, Shikamaru entered the next room with his team in tow. They found themselves in a large room filled with large glass containers with bodies inside, the room was well lit and several odd machines filled the room.

"What is this place?" Kiba whispered to Shikamaru.

"I'm not sure, I think it's a lab…" Shikamaru responded in a sarcastic tone that went unnoticed by Kiba. He looked around the room and saw no sign of danger, they would be safe for now. "I want you guys to spread out and look for any kind of paper talking about the Cursed Seal of Heaven. We only have about four minutes until the Sound ninja are out of the genjutsu, get moving."

"Right," the three Genin chorused as they moved to search for any sort of research paper.

Shikamaru stayed near the door, if any other ninja showed up then he would know about it. His plan had been a pretty straightforward one but it seemed as the only choice since fighting would only alert other enemies of their location.

A loud crashing sound echoed through the base, accompanied by a small tremor. Shikamaru frowned, there had been sounds of a battle going on outside and he wanted to help as soon as possible. He could tell that they were having trouble since all of the tremors and crashes were a dead give-away that it was not a Genin level battle.

"Found something!" Ino cheered with a smile on her face. On her right hand was a worn out notebook and her left hand held a few pieces of paper.

Shikamaru nodded in relief. "That'll be all," he announced, taking Kiba by surprise, "We have to get out there as soon as possible. As troublesome as it is, they need our help outside."

"What are you talking about?" Kiba asked in slight anger, "We can't just leave like that, there might be more important papers here!"

"We don't have a choice," Choji answered with a serious look on his face, "If our friends are in trouble then we have to help them. Besides it's not like we're leaving empty-handed."

"Fine but don't blame me if we get in trouble," Kiba retorted with a frown.

"Let's get going," Shikamaru ordered with a determined look.

* * *

Naruto's red slit eyes narrowed on the dust cloud in front of him. Black chakra was leaking out of it, prove that his prey was still up for a fight. Part of him knew that he shouldn't be acting like this, that it was the fox's doing, but the other part of him didn't really care.

"I'll kill you!" Katsu roared as he launched out of the cave at an incredible speed.

In an instant he appeared before Naruto and threw a punch. The jinchuuriki saw it coming and caught it on his hand before using his other arm to punch at Katsu's chest. The man saw this coming and used his left wind to knock his arm away, catching him off guard. The Sound ninja smirked and delivered a crushing blow to his ribcage. Blood splattered out of his mouth as his eyes grew wide. Before he could react, Katsu's elbow met his chin in a hard blow. The Sound ninja then kicked at the jinchuuriki's chest. The impact made the jinchuuriki fall into the river in a large splash.

"Had enough?" Came Katsu's voice as he stared at the river with a smirk.

Lee watched the even and frowned. "I have to help Naruto," he decided as he took hold of his weights.

"If we all fight together then we might win," Shino agreed as he gathered his bugs.

Neji nodded. "Let's put an end to this," he gave a firm nod to Lee as the green-clad ninja took of his weights and let them fall on the ledge, instantly breaking it from the impact.

Lee put on a determined look and launched at the Sound ninja. Katsu's eyes grew wide when he took notice of the Genin. Lee threw a punch at the man's face in a fast jab, making contact with his nose. The man growled and punched at Lee but he disappeared from view before the fist could make contact.

"I'm over here," Lee announced as he delivered a kick to Katsu's back, receiving a cry of pain from the Sound ninja.

Katsu sailed through the air and was painfully reminded that there were still more ninja by a hard palm-strike to his back. He flipped in the air and delivered a hard kick to Neji's chin with a loud popping sound. The Genin sailed through the air and fell on a small ledge with a loud thud.

Bugs suddenly filled Katsu's vision, making him growl in annoyance. He snarled when he noticed that the bugs were circling around him, it was obvious that they had a kind of battle strategy. His eyes widened when a green blur entered the circle and delivered a hard kick to his chest, he tried to catch the Genin but he had easily sidestepped the grab. Lee delivered a hard punch to the man's side before throwing a hard kick to his stomach.

"Enough!" Katsu yelled as he flared his chakra, kicking up a large vortex of black chakra. Lee hadn't been expecting this and was slammed head-first to the cliff's wall, falling onto one of the cave's entryways unconscious.

Shino frowned, the man's chakra had killed a large number of his bugs. It was at this moment that he realized that he relied on his clan's abilities too much. Maybe if he had more jutsu then he wouldn't be so vulnerable without his bugs. But now wasn't the time to think, there was an enemy in front of him, a very angry enemy at that, but he would need to think this through.

"I admit that you managed to wound me," Katsu admitted with a smirk on his face. He phased from view to appear right in front of Shino, "But it won't happen again." The Sound ninja delivered a crushing punch to the bug user's head, instantly knocking him out.

Katsu relaxed his stance but froze when he heard a loud roar. He quickly turned towards the river to see the jinchuuriki launch out of it. Naruto landed on the cliff's wall on all fours and glared at the Sound ninja. The man got over his shock and smirked.

"It's a good think that you're still alive," Katsu admitted in a smug tone, "You're the perfect opponent to test my skills."

Naruto smirked and ran at the Sound ninja on all fours, clawing his way through the rocky wall. As he ran he waved in front of him, kicking up a powerful gust that struck against Katsu. The jinchuuriki took his opportunity and used his chakra cloak to launch a punch of pure chakra at the man. The Sound ninja gasped when he saw a chakra arm launching at him. He quickly jumped away from the attack and ran through hand signs.

"Sound Style: Sonic Wave!" Katsu yelled as he roared in a high pitched voice.

Naruto growled in pain and held his ears in an attempt to stop the ringing on his head. He kneeled on the ground as he cried in pain, his head was throbbing in pain and his chakra cloak began to waver. The red chakra started to leave him as he fell on the ground and clutched his head in pain.

'_Fuck…. I can't take any more of this,' _Naruto thought in alarm. He slowly raised his head to Katsu and did a few hand signs, _'I have to get out of this!' _The Chunin put a finger around his mouth and inhaled a large amount of air.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" Naruto yelled as a powerful gust of air escaped his mouth. The attack pushed against the Sonic Wave and struck Katsu directly, making him lose his footing and be blown away. The Sound ninja landed against the rocky wall of the cliff and growled in pain.

Naruto panted from where he stood, using the fox's chakra had taken a toll on his body. He watched as Katsu began to stand without much effort. It might have been true that they had landed many hits on him but it was also true that not many of them had damaged him. If things were this bad then he would need to use it after all.

Jiraiya had been surprised when he had fist seen it and after seeing what it did, he found it to be way too unstable and dangerous. Naruto had been ordered not to use it unless things got really bad. The Chunin knew that he would need to use it here if he wanted to stop Katsu.

"You lose Leaf trash…" Katsu chuckled in amusement, "You were strong but it wasn't enough to kill me."

"Who says I'm done?" Naruto responded with a smirk on his face. Blue chakra swirled around him and gathered around his right fist. The wind around him grew violent and enveloped his arm, "I'll show you…" The chakra and wind began to rotate around his arm, chirping off pieces of his skin. Blood filled the Chunin's right side as his face turned into one of determination, "My original jutsu!"

**Ch. 21 End**

**That is all for today guys. Due to certain circumstances (my life got very busy out of nowhere) I won't be able to update twice a week every time. I will update once a week for sure but I don't really have the time to do it twice a week. Remember to answer the question guys. **

**Would you like me to make a side-story about Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya? If I do make the side-story it **_**won't **_**interfere with the sequel, it will still come out immediately after this story. **

**Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	22. Mission Accomplished!

**Here's the next chapter guys. Thanks to those who had time to review and answer my question since it will be important later on. Anyway this will be the last action chapter (thank god, writing all those fights was a little taxing on me XD) and the last chapter of the Remains of Sound Arc.**

**As for the review saying that Naruto was too strong then you probably aren't keeping up with the story really well. I don't know if I've said it before but many characters (not just Naruto) will be a lot stronger than in canon. This is because I believe that some were underrated and not everyone will sit back and watch as Naruto grows stronger, they would train their asses off too. **

**I didn't get a lot of answers on my question so I'll ask again:**

**Would you like me to make a side-story about Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya? If I do make the side-story it **_**won't **_**interfere with the sequel, it will still come out immediately after this story. **

**That is all for now, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Remains of Sound Arc**_

**Ch. 22 Mission Accomplished!**

_-Flashback-_

_Naruto panted as he watched the rubble that had been a boulder less than a minute ago. His right arm shook violently, blood ran from his shoulder to his wrist, pieces of skin had been peeled off and his black glove had been left in tatters. The Chunin bit his lip, trying to keep his discomfort a secret from his master._

_Jiraiya stood behind Naruto with his arms crossed. His apprentice had asked him to see the jutsu he had come up with. He had thought that it was a new kind of Sexy Jutsu so he left with an eager smile. When he saw that Naruto was focusing chakra and creating something similar to the Rasengan his smile faded to be replaced by a serious look. It wasn't until the aftermath of the attack that he had seen just how reckless it was, using it would only risk Naruto's life in the end. _

_It had been an impressive jutsu, one of destructive power that not only penetrated its target but also did internal damage. He could tell that he had gotten his inspiration from the Chidori and Rasengan but perfecting this jutsu would require a lot more training, years even. _

"_I forbid you from using it again," Jiraiya suddenly announced, shocking Naruto._

"_W-what? Why?" Naruto asked in slight irritation, he had worked hard on coming up with the jutsu for it to be just tossed aside like a failed experiment. _

_Jiraiya sighed. "It's way too dangerous to use," he began with a frown on his face, "You have to have a lot more chakra control if you want to ever using it again. How do you think you got those wounds on your arm? Your wind manipulation is not perfect and that's why it backfired on you."_

"_Fine…" Naruto muttered with his arms crossed._

_Jiraiya frowned, he knew that Naruto was disappointed at having his first original jutsu shut down like that. No matter how old you were it always hurt whenever someone pointed out the flaws of something you worked hard to do. _

"_How's this? You can't use it on any fight except for when it's an emergency," Jiraiya sighed out. Naruto instantly perked up and looked exited before the sage pointed a finger at him, "But you have to remember that it will take you out of a fight if you use it. Make sure to have tried all your other jutsu before using this one. I can tell that the jutsu will only get stronger with the proper training, but we'll get to that later on."_

"_Don't worry about a thing Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto replied with a smile on his face, not noticing the slight twitch on Jiraiya's right eye._

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto looked at his enemy with determination burning on his blue eyes. This would be his last shot, he could not fail. His friends were depending on him and he would never let them down. Wind encircled his right arm, before he began to manipulate it. The wind spun on his arm, making him grit his teeth in pain. He could tell that his skin was already being chirped off by the violent wind on his arm but he needed to hold on.

Katsu smirked as he watched Naruto charge up the attack. It was useless now, his master's power was coursing through him and any attempt against him was futile. Nobody could compare to his master's gift. He began to swirl his chakra around him, he would prove his master's powers by using his chakra to block the attack.

Naruto smirked, his right arm was covered by a violent wind that circled around his arm, giving it a transparent gray color. "This is it," the Chunin announced as he walked towards the Sound ninja, "You're finished!"

Naruto broke into a run, holding his arm back. Katsu smirked as he flared his chakra around him, making a deep black orb of pure chakra completely surround him. As the Chunin grew closer he brought his arm down on the large orb of concentrated chakra, making the chakra around his arm spin uncontrollably.

The two different chakras clashed in a fury of wind, creating a small crater, ripping branches from trees and kicking up large clouds of dust. Naruto gritted his teeth as he added more pressure into his punch, making it enter a small part of the orb. Katsu's eyes widened as he watched the fist enter his most powerful defense.

Naruto gave a cry of pain as the charka cut into his arm before he put even more pressure into it, wanting to get the fight over already. The Chunin's attack continued to push against the orb of chakra until finally a shockwave rocked the area as the attack broke through the chakra orb, revealing a terrorized Katsu with a look of disbelief.

"Take this! Wind Style: Drilling Fist!" Naruto roared as his attack met with the man's stomach, instantly digging into his skin.

Katsu screamed in agony as the attack dug onto his stomach, breaking tissue and organs alike. Blood shot out of his mouth as the attack dug deeper into him, his insides were in agonizing pain and he could do nothing but watch the now blood-soaked face of Naruto glare at him until he got a look of alarm on his face.

'_Not now!' _Naruto screamed in his head when he felt his attack losing strength. The wind left little by little until it left nothing but the Chunin's bloody arm inside of Katsu.

Katsu looked at Naruto when he felt the attack stop. "Y-you…" he began in a look of disbelief before it turned into one of pure anger, "You fucking brat! I will kill you for this!"

The Sound ninja took hold of Naruto's right arm, making him scream in pain before he ripped it out of his stomach. He then brought his right fist to the Chunin's chest, knocking him several feet back. The blond Chunin fell on the ground with a cry of pain, he looked at his arm only to see tattered skin completely soaked by his and Katsu's blood.

"Dammit…" he muttered as he tried to stand but was suddenly stopped by a clawed-foot on his chest. The Chunin screamed as the claws dug into his chest, instantly drawing blood.

"I will show you true pain," Katsu muttered with hate on his eyes, "I took it easy on you before because I was looking for a good fight." He took his foot off the blond before bringing it down on his chest once more, making him scream in agony, "But now I want nothing more than to kill you!"

The man stomped on Naruto without any mercy. Blood came out of the Chunin's mouth as the punishment continued, he could no longer think straight, his vision grew blurry and his body refused to move. All that was left was pain.

"Die!" Katsu roared as he brought his foot down on Naruto's chest, earning a choked scream from the blond. The Sound ninja smirked before breaking into a laughing fit, "Die! Die! Die!" He continued to stomp on the Leaf ninja before kneeling next to him and grabbing him by the neck. Without hesitation, he brought his fist down on the blond's face. The Sound ninja laughed as he mercilessly punched the semi-conscious Chunin's face.

Blood soon covered most of Naruto's face as the Sound ninja continued his assault, laughing as he did it. The Chunin felt his body go numb, no longer did he feel the pain or anything else for that matter. He could hear the Kyuubi roaring on his cage, telling him to fight back but he simply didn't have the strength anymore. His eye-lids grew heavy as he began to lose consciousness, welcoming the darkness.

"You bastard!" came a loud voice, making Katsu look around in confusion, "Fang Over Fang!"

The Sound ninja frowned when he saw two rotating blurs heading straight for him. "I've had enough of you kids!" Katsu roared as he charged at the two blurs, dodging one by side-stepping to his left and throwing a chakra-enhanced punch at the other one. He smirked as he watched his fist make contact with the face of a brown-haired ninja with a loud 'pop.'

Kiba sailed through the air before crashing head-first against a tree. He fell limply on the floor, feeling himself losing consciousness. _'I can't be out yet!' _he screamed in his head as his blurred vision watched the man walk towards the fallen form of Naruto once more, _'I have to help Naruto! I might not like him a lot but he's still my comrade. I can't let him… die…'_

"Kiba!" Shikamaru yelled as he ran at the now unconscious Inuzuka, Akamaru already by his side giving sad whines. The lazy Chunin gritted his teeth as he looked at his enemy. "W-what?" he choked out when he saw the bloodied form of Naruto.

'_Is this why Kiba ran ahead of us earlier…' _he wondered as the man turned to him, clearly frustrated, _'I can't let Ino see Naruto like this, she would just freak out and put the mission in danger.' _

"NARUTO!"

'_Dammit," _Shikamaru cursed as Ino ran ahead of him, _'That idiot! She can't just charge at the enemy.'_

Katsu growled as Ino ran at the unconscious Naruto. "You're not going anywhere!" he exclaimed as he charged at the kunoichi.

Ino glared at the man and ran through hand signs. "Water Style: Raging Waves!" she exclaimed as a torrent of water came out of her mouth and pushed the man back, giving her enough room to aid Naruto.

Katsu recovered from the attack and tried to charge at Ino but found that his body was unwilling to move.

"Shadow Possession Success…" came the voice of Shikamaru.

"Do you really think you can hold me here?" Katsu growled in pure anger.

"That wasn't the plan!" Choji exclaimed as he charged at the man, using his body expansion jutsu to create a giant fist. He punched at the man, making contact with his chest before knocking him against a tree.

"Naruto…" Ino muttered as she kneeled next to the blond. Tears fell from her eyes when she saw the condition he was in. His face was bloodied and bruised, his nose was broken and he had swelling on his left eye. The rest of his body was covered in blood and bruiseds, his chest was completely bruised with many deep stab wounds and his right arm looked as if it had been trampled on.

"Ino this isn't the time to check on him," Shikamaru urged with a look of worry on his face, part of him thought that Naruto wasn't even alive anymore, "We'll take care of this Sound ninja and then take Naruto back to Konoha to get him some medical attention."

"No!" Ino snapped at Shikamaru, "I know some of the medical jutsu they taught at the ninja Academy. I'm going to heal him!" She put her hands around a large gash on Naruto's arm and poured charka into it, hoping to heal it.

"They only showed us how to heal minimal wounds," he argued but found that Ino wasn't even listening to him. There was something that those two weren't telling him but he would let Ino be for now, she was too distressed to fight either way.

"Shikamaru are you done with the base?" came the voice of a tired Neji, accompanied by Lee and Shino.

Shikamaru nodded. "Tell me about that Sound ninja," he ordered with a frown on his face, "He's not a normal one."

"He's the leader of the Sound ninja at this base," Neji explained with a serious look, "He used a strange chakra to make himself stronger though its taking a toll on his body. I'm sure that if we attack the place with the most strain we'll defeat him."

"I'm going to need all of your help," Shikamaru stated as he turned to Choji, "We're going to keep him in a hold and then they'll attack at once."

"Sounds good," Choji replied with a firm nod.

"I'm going to slaughter you!" Katsu roared as his chakra flared once more, knocking away the tree he had crashed into.

"Let's go!" Shikamaru ordered as he took out two kunai and threw them at the man. Smirking when he watched him dodge the projectile, it appeared he hadn't noticed that the first rays of sunlight had filled the area, giving him the perfect fighting field.

Choji used his body expansion to grow giant arms before charging at the Sound ninja. Katsu smirked when he saw the Leaf ninja charge at him, it was too easy. He moved to dodge but found that his body had been paralyzed once more. Choji's hands instantly wrapped around the man, holding him as tight as possible.

"This won't hold me for long!" Katsu roared in fury before wincing at the bugs latching to his skin, taking away his chakra. He moved against the hold and failed to noticed that the bugs had gathered around a certain area of his body, the middle of his chest. As the Sound ninja struggled he suddenly winced in pain, feeling that the wound Naruto had inflicted was acting up.

Neji and Lee charged at the man as fast as possible, giving Choji a nod as they grew closer to the man. The Genin understood and dropped his hold on the Sound ninja, who instantly tried to break free of the shadow hold. Shikamaru winced under the strain his jutsu was going through, it was only will that let him keep going.

Shikamaru watched Neji and Lee only a few steps away from the man and smiled. _'Got him,' _he thought in relief.

Lee's threw a hard kick at the man's chest, using the momentum of his run to inflict even more damage. Katsu growled in pain as Lee jumped away from him, being replaced by Neji. The Hyuuga used a hard palm-strike on the same exact spot Lee had just hit before moving away from him. The Sound ninja's eyes widened when he felt the pain of Naruto's attack hit him all together. Screams filled the area as he kneeled on the ground and held his side, it was as if he was reliving the moment it had pierced his stomach.

Katsu fell on the ground, feeling the strength of his master leave him. The pain on his stomach came back even stronger than before, making him choke in pain before throwing up. His eyes widened when he saw only blood on the ground, he had thrown up a large pool of blood.

"What's happening to me?" he muttered to himself as his body began to return to normal.

"That's an easy one," Shikamaru responded with a frown on his face, "You were simply using too much of that chakra. From the looks of it, it somehow managed to have your adrenaline going for an unlimited time. You would have died eventually if we didn't stop you, well, you're still going to die but you get the idea. The wound on your stomach came full force when we cut off the chakra going through your system and that's about it."

"I…I'm going… to kill you," Katsu gasped out in pain.

Lee moved to where Kiba was, carrying him on his back. Neji, Choji and Shino went to check on Ino and Naruto leaving only Shikamaru with the man. The lazy Chunin took out two kunai with explosive tags on the handles, twirling them on his fingers.

"I'm not a very passionate person," Shikamaru admitted with a serious look on his face, "But when someone puts my friend's lives in danger then I get mad." The Leaf ninja threw the kunai at the man's stomach, digging into the skin on the hole Naruto's attack had left. He then threw the other kunai at the other side of the cliff, near the edge of it, "This are some of the explosive tags my friend Naruto gave me. They blow up when you do a certain hand sign."

Katsu shook in terror as Shikamaru turned to leave. The lazy Chunin walked to where Naruto was before turning to the Sound ninja one last time. The man's eyes widened when he saw him do a hand sign.

'_BOOOOM' _

* * *

'_Where am I?' _Naruto asked himself as he opened his eyes. He was met by a dark star-filled sky and the smell of burning wood. He tried to move his arm but stopped when a wave of pain went through his body. His whole body ached terribly, his right arm was annoyingly itchy and his vision was a little blurred.

"I see you're awake," he heard Shikamaru say. The blond Chunin turned his head to his right to see Shikamaru sitting on a log with a bored expression on his face, "It's been two days since you fell unconscious."

"Where…" Naruto tried to talk but broke into a fit of coughs. His throat was hoarse and his chest hurt terribly with each cough, "Where am I?"

"We're only a few hours away from the Leaf village," Shikamaru responded, "We haven't been able to move fast since we had to carry you and Kiba and we're not exactly in shape right now. We also did our best to heal you guys but some of your wounds we only managed to wrap in bandages and Kiba..."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What happened to Kiba?" he asked in slight worry, "Is he alright?"

Shikamaru nodded as he turned his gaze to the sky. "He attacked the Sound ninja you were fighting and got badly hurt. He hasn't woken up since then, that's why we have to hurry back to the village," he sighed, "Please tell me you'll be able to walk tomorrow, I'm getting tired of carrying you."

Naruto chuckled despite himself. "Sorry about that," he apologized as he managed to sit up with pain written all over his face. He looked at his body to see that it was mostly bandaged. His right arm was completely covered in bandages, which explained the itchiness, he brought a hand to his face and noticed that it was mostly bandaged too. He sighed, he would need to go to a hospital when he got back but he didn't want to worry for now.

A yawn escaped his lips as he took in his surroundings. He was in a small clearing with his friends fast asleep around the fire, his eyes widened when he didn't see a certain kunoichi, "Where're Ino?"

"Calm down," Shikamaru sighed out, "She's right next to you. I can't believe you didn't see her."

The blond Chunin turned to his right to see Ino sleeping with her sleeping bag right next to his. A small smile graced his face and he used his left hand to move away a few strands of her hair that were on her face, liking the feeling of her soft warm skin against his hand. Ino leaned her head against the warm hand, sighing in contempt.

"What exactly is your relationship with Ino?" Shikamaru asked in curiosity, "I feel like I'm missing something."

Naruto smiled, "You don't know the half of it."

* * *

Orochimaru walked on a mountainous road with a smirk on his face. Next to him walked his assistant Kabuto and the newest addition to the Sound Four, a teen with orange hair and a downcast expression.

"Is something the matter Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked, noticing his master's amused expression.

Orochimaru chuckled. "It seems as if my little pet, the one called Katsu, has been killed," he explained with an amused expression, "I wonder who was able to kill him."

"He had a knack for playing around with his foes," Kabuto mused with a smirk of his own, "The Curse Seal level 3 was far too unstable, that mixed with his overconfidence makes him rather easy to kill once you have him figured out."

"Right you are Kabuto," Orochimaru praised with a smirk on his face, "I think that the world did me a favor by getting rid of that fool, he outlived his usefulness."

* * *

"Are you okay?" Ino asked in concern.

"Yeah," Naruto replied.

"Are you sure?" she asked in worry.

"Yeah," he replied once again.

"Are you really sure you're okay?" she insisted in a worried tone.

"Ye-"

"He's fine!" Came the collective voice of the group of annoyed Leaf ninja.

Ino crossed her arms and pouted. Naruto grinned as he continued to walk with his arm around Ino's shoulder for support. His right arm hung limply on his side and he had a slight limp as he walked, trying to prevent himself from forcing most of his upper body. He still felt tired from the fight with Katsu be he would be okay as long as he got to spend time with his friends. He pulled Ino a little closer, trying to get her to calm down.

"I'm really okay Ino," he said with the grin never leaving his face. Ino smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder as the two continued to walk.

"Lovebirds," snickered the rest of the ninja.

As soon as the sun had been out the group of ninja had set off to Konoha once more. It had been a hectic morning since Naruto had awakened and everyone was asking how he was, Ino being the one to ask the most. She had been ecstatic to have Naruto back and hadn't left his side since morning. Kiba was still unconscious so it was good news that the gates of Konoha were only a few feet away from the group.

"Long mission guys?" asked the guards at the gate, seeing the condition the ninjas were in.

"You have no idea," Naruto replied with a weary smile. He watched as one of the guards disappeared in a cloud of smoke before reappearing a few moments later with a group of Medical ninja.

"We'll take him to the hospital," one of the medical ninja said as they took Kiba before disappearing in clouds of smoke.

"Where do we go from here?" Shino asked in his monotone voice.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a second before breaking into a grin. "I'm going to get some ramen then see the Hokage, how about you guys?"

"Oh no you don't! We're going to the hospital first and then we'll see the Hokage," Ino ordered with an angry look on her face.

"S-sure," Naruto answered with a nervous look, growling at the snickers coming from his friends.

"Let's go then," Ino announced as she pulled Naruto towards the hospital, the group following right behind them. It had been a hard mission but they had pulled through and they were closer than before, understanding each other a little better though Shino, Neji and Lee still wondered what the red chakra around Naruto was and planned on confronting him about it.

**Ch. 22 End**

**I know that the chapter was a little short today but I felt that it was a good place to stop. My first original Arc is now finished and I would like to know what you thought of it. The next chapter will follow the original storyline a little before going into another of my original Arcs. I can't say much but this one will take place around the Sand village. Anyway, remember to answer my question:**

**Would you like me to make a side-story about Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya? If I do make the side-story it **_**won't **_**interfere with the sequel, it will still come out immediately after this story. **

**Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	23. A New Threat

**I'm sorry about the delay guys but the site kept on giving me errors whenever I tried to edit my story and it wasn't until today that I found a little trick to update, if you're having some problems updating then just ask and I'll tell you how to do it. Anyway thanks to all of those who took the time to read this story, it makes my day to see people put this story on their favorites and review. **

**I would like to let you know that the story will start to follow more characters as time passes. The reason being that I don't like it when things are unexplained so expect some chapters to have large portions of what the side characters are going through. **

**I've decided not to make the side story, sorry for those who wanted it. I'll just have some chapters on the sequel go over certain aspects of the training. Some of those who reviewed told me to keep his new skills a mystery and you're absolutely right. **

**As you can probably tell, this chapter won't have any action whatsoever. This one will just set things into motion and take a break from all of the action that just took place. This will be the beginning of my new original arc, hope you like it.**

**That is all for now and please enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 23 A New Threat**

A week had passed since the mission to Sound, almost two months since they had invaded Konoha. Things in the Leaf were looking much better than before, most of the buildings had been repaired, many ninja had been healed and classes at the Ninja Academy had begun once more. Konoha was slowly returning to its former self with the threat of Sound disappearing with each passing day.

These were the things that Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, mused as he observed the village from the roof of his office. He closed his eyes and inhaled the contents of the pipe on his mouth, smoking was one of the things that would relieve his stress nowadays though he knew that it wasn't very healthy.

His eyes opened when he heard the sound of footsteps. "Did you find anything Jiraiya?" the Hokage asked his old student.

Jiraiya smirked from behind his teacher and crossed his arms. He had returned to the village a few days prior and had been told that some documents on the Curse Seal had been found. Him being a seal master had been asked to analyze the papers. "Not much…" he admitted in a light tone, "The information found of the Curse Seal is pretty outdated. I could probably figure out a way to cancel the new one but it would take some time."

"How long?" Sarutobi asked with a hint of tiredness on his voice.

"About a year," Jiraiya informed. Watching the frown on his teacher's face, the sage continued, "I know that you're worried about Orochimaru getting the sharingan but I believe that one year is more than enough time. Right now I'm able to recreate his old Curse Seal and remove it without much trouble but with the proper time I'll be able to counter anything he comes up with."

Sarutobi turned to Jiraiya with a serious expression. "Are you sure about being able to remove the old Cursed Seal of Heaven?" he asked, "Do you think you could be able to use it on a person?"

"Sure…" Jiraiya muttered in confusion, not sure what his teacher was implying.

"Good," the Third said with a light smile on his face, "Do you know of Anko?"

Jiraiya's eyes widened in understanding, a smile forming on his face. "Of course. How could I forget?" he scolded himself, "If she's willing to cooperate then I'll be able to get the Curse Mark off of her."

"Cooperate with what?" Sarutobi asked in slight concern, hoping that his former student wasn't thinking of anything perverted.

Jiraiya smirked as he suppressed a laugh, already thinking of the consequences of his decision. "I've been wanting to expand Naruto's taijutsu for a while now…" he began, "I thought of teaching him some of my other taijutsu but they're just watered down versions of the Toad taijutsu style. Anko's taijutsu is almost a polar opposite of the Toad style so she'll be the perfect teacher."

"I can already tell that this is going to end badly," Sarutobi muttered as he watched Jiraiya's smirk.

* * *

"Dammit," Sasuke growled as he punched the training log in front of him, making small dents with each strike. Blood dripped from his knuckles but he couldn't care less, rage fueled his system and he wouldn't let up because of a little pain.

Sasuke was on the small training ground located on the back of his home. The Uchiha's were a clan of ruthless shinobi, so it was obvious that they would have training grounds on their compound and homes. Something that Sasuke didn't understand was why most of the Uchiha had been living sheltered lives, hindering their progress. Looking back now, part of him was glad that those fools had been killed but he would still have his revengel, not because Itachi had killed them but because he had soiled their family name.

The Uchiha glared at the log in front of him, remembering why he had intensified his training it the beginning. Naruto's power had grown to a point where it concerned him. Being overshadowed by the blond idiot was the last thing he wanted, he was an Uchiha, the clan that held the most powerful ninjas.

As he glared at the log the curse seal began to play its part. Black spots covered the Uchiha's left shoulder as he growled in anger, gone was the dented log, now Naruto stood on its place with a mocking smile on his face. The Uchiha snarled as 'Naruto' gave a cocky grin, as if he didn't deem him a threat anymore.

The sharingan came to life, glaring at the image of the blond. A loud chirping echoed through the Uchiha compound as Sasuke charged his Chidori with hatred on his eyes. He wouldn't let Naruto be superior than him, he would rather die than see that day.

"Naruto!" Sasuke roared as he charged at 'Naruto.' The chirping increased as the Chidori pierced through the image, leaving a gaping hole on the thick log. Sasuke panted before breaking into a smirk, he could feel his power growing and he would put Naruto on his place when they met again, he would make sure of it.

* * *

Shino kneeled on the ground of his Team's training ground. Trees adorned the area with a small stream diving the area. It was a rather common setting of the Leaf village but it brought the bug-user peace. He deemed it a good place to train and was trying his best to make sure that he wouldn't hinder his team again.

The mission to the Sound bases had been an eye-opener for him. It showed him that he relied too much on his clan's abilities. The enemy had rendered his bugs useless rather easily and had left him completely vulnerable to attacks. When he first came back to Konoha he had instantly spoken to his teacher, asking her to help him learn other types of jutsu. Through a small test he had found out that he had an Earth affinity. He had found some scrolls with Earth jutsu on his clan's library, though it was a small number, and had begun his training the next day.

"I almost have it down," he muttered as he struggled to stand. He would make sure to fix his weaknesses from now on since he blamed himself for what happened to Kiba, his own teammate, "I won't be a burden."

* * *

Naruto smiled in excitement, still on his taijutsu stance while Choji stood in front of him with a wary look on his face. He and Team 10 had taken to spar once in a while to keep their skills sharp while at the same time familiarizing with their attacks if they needed to team up again.

Ino stood on the side of Team Seven's training grounds with a smile on her face, watching the two spar. She looked a little tired herself but for different reasons. Her training with Kurenai had become more intense and required more chakra control than before, forcing her to not only train on her control whenever she could but to try to grow her reserves. Only a few moments ago she had been doing chakra control exercises and had used most of her chakra up.

"Let's call it a day," Naruto said with a smile on his face, no more bandages covering any part of his body.

Choji smiled. "Good, it was time to eat anyway," he said with glee as he reached into his kunai pouch and withdrew a small bag of chips.

"W-what the hell?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"I know," Choji answered with a sigh, looking a little disappointed, "I couldn't fit the usual chips on my kunai pouch so I had to settle for a smaller bag."

Naruto sighed with his arms crossed. "Right…" he hung his head and turned to Ino, "What should we do now?"

"Hmm," Ino put a hand on her chin, looking thoughtful. Naruto chuckled at her thinking pose but didn't say anything, "Why don't we go to my house? I'm sure my parents would love to eat with you again!"

"Dinner!/Parents!" Choji and Naruto exclaimed at the same time.

Ino frowned and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes on Naruto. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

Naruto paled under Ino's gaze, he knew not to say anything stupid when Ino got like this. He settle for chuckling nervously and scratching the back of his head, "N-no problem."

"Good," Ino responded with a happy smile though she still seemed a little mad, "Are you coming with us Choji."

"I-I'm good, I have some things to do anyway," he responded a little nervously.

"Okay," Ino answered with a nod as she took hold of Naruto's hand and dragged him away, the Chunin glaring at Choji the whole time.

'_Traitor!' _Naruto mouthed to Choji, making the Genin look away in shame. They might be friends but he knew better than to approach an angry Ino.

Once they were out of view, Ino turned to Naruto with an angry look on her face. "Now that we're alone…" she began, her gaze making the Chunin gulp.

Without warning Ino took hold of Naruto's vest before pulling him towards her, locking lips with him. The blond's eyes widened before he returned the kiss, taking in the feeling of Ino's lips on his. She suddenly pulled away, making him look at her oddly.

"What's wrong Ino?" Naruto asked in confusion, a hint of disappointment on his voice.

Ino smiled. "I know that you feel uncomfortable with adults because of… you know," she began with a hint of sadness on her eyes, "I just want you to try to get along with them."

Naruto looked unsure for a moment but seeing Ino's pleading look gave him his answer. "Alright," he answered with a small smile, "But your dad is still a tad scary."

"That's just how he is," Ino admitted in an amused tone. She held Naruto's hand, giving him a smile before walking alongside him.

The two walked in silence, ignoring the odd looks coming from the villagers. They hadn't spent much time together since the mission to the Sound bases since Naruto spent most of the week in the hospital. Tsunade had made sure that every single scratch on Naruto had been healed and managed to keep him from escaping the building. It was a comical sight to see, Naruto running from Tsunade on a hospital robe almost every day.

Ino had spent some time in the hospital also but stayed only for two days since she only suffered from chakra exhaustion. The day she was fit to leave the hospital her parents had taken her home and told her to take it easy for a while, having her help out on the shop with small things. Ino was of course annoyed at being treated like this but didn't voice her opinion since she knew that her parents only wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Naruto?," Ino muttered as she rested her head on the blond's shoulder.

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

She looked unsure for a moment but knew that they had to address the situation. "Are you still blaming yourself over what happened to Kiba?" she felt Naruto tense up and knew that she hit the nail, "It wasn't your fault, he only tried to help."

Naruto sighed. "I know," he muttered a little sadly, "But I still feel like it's kind of my fault. If I had been stronger then I wouldn't have needed him to help me. Now he's in a coma and they're not sure if he'll wake up. I guess I'm only feeling guilty that I couldn't help him."

"It'll be alright," Ino assured, her hand squeezing Naruto's.

When Kiba was taken to the hospital, the doctors found his head injury to be serious. The injury combined with the blood loss and head trauma had brought his body into shock before falling into a coma. Tsunade had been the first to treat the Genin but found that she could do nothing since using chakra around his brain would be too risky. It was all up to Kiba in the end, his mother and sister visit him daily with Hinata doing the same. She had been making sure that Kiba was comfortable and had been rather sad to see her outgoing teammate in the state he was in.

"I hope so," Naruto answered as he tightened his grip on Ino's hand.

* * *

On the lonely desert surrounding the Sand village stood a ninja wearing a gas-mask, the ninja also wore a brown cloak that covered the headband he wore proudly on his forehead. The ninja watched the endless sand without uttering a sound, simply watching the wind carry the sand away. Crows flew high in the sky, circling the ninja, anticipating their meal.

The ninja's brown gloved hands made their way into the pockets of his sandy brown pants, as he walked away from the scene. Behind him the sand was painted a crimson red, a squad of gutless Sand ninjas lay lifelessly on the ground with others on the verge of death, watching the crows in terror. The crows screeched before swooping down to claim their meal.

* * *

The air was awkward around the Yamanaka home. Naruto, Ino, Inoichi, and Miki sat on a table with their plates clean of food. Inoichi kept throwing nasty looks at Naruto, the blond sat way too close to his daughter. Miki was happy to have Naruto over and glad to find out that he was her daughter's boyfriend. Ino could feel the uncomfortable air her boyfriend was giving off due to Inoichi's glares and motioned her dad to stop.

"N-nice of you guys to have me here," Naruto suddenly said with a nervous smile, feeling Inoichi's gaze on him harden.

"It was our pleasure," Miki answered with a smile, "Right Inoichi?"

"Right," Inoichi muttered with his eyes never leaving Naruto. He actually approved of the kid but found that making him nervous was just too amusing, no wonder his father-in-law had done it to him when he started dating Miki.

"Well I guess I'll get going, it's getting late," Naruto announced as he sat up and prepared to leave, "Thank you for having me over."

"I'll walk you out," Ino offered as she walked after Naruto, leaving her parents alone.

As soon as Ino walked out Miki slapped her husband on the back of his head. "What was that for!" Inoichi exclaimed in surprise.

"You know what you're doing," Miki said in a dangerously sweet tone, making Inoichi gulp, "Stop messing with Naruto, I can tell that Ino really likes him."

"And what if I don't?" Inoichi replied but froze under his wife's glare, "J-just kidding."

"Good," Miki said in a happy tone though her eyes told a different story.

* * *

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk with a serious look on his face. Jiraiya leaned against the window of the office with a frown, thinking of a reason as to why the man needed help. In front of them stood Gaki, a Sand ninja that had attacked during the invasion, he had come to contact the Hokage since they were in need of help.

"Please Lord Hokage," Gaki pleaded, "I ask you to forget out past differences and help us with our problem."

Sarutobi nodded. "I understand, but remember that we attacked back. You coming here is telling us that the Sand has gotten past our differences and we'll do the same," he assured with a nod, "Now tell me what's wrong."

Gaki nodded as he closed his eyes. "There have been reports of many of our squads being murdered on the outside of our village," he informed, earning surprised looks from Jiraiya and the Hokage, "We can't send just anyone to deal with them since our village is in a state of crisis. Right now the council are acting as the leaders of the village and we can't afford to send a Jonin since we're taking as many missions as possible. Sending a Jonin would make our situation even worse."

"You want me to send some of my ninja to find the murderer…" the Third pondered with a serious look, "As you know, our village is also taking as many missions as possible and most of our Jonin are out on missions at the moment." Seeing the shocked look on Gaki's face, the Third continued, "But that doesn't mean I won't help. I'll send a capable team to take care of the problem."

"That'll be alright but we plan on sending one of our ninjas also," Gaki informed.

"Who will you be sending?" Sarutobi asked in curiosity.

"We plan on sending Gaara," Gaki deadpanned.

* * *

Night fell on Konoha, the village now quiet with a few people wondering the streets. Naruto sat on his apartment's couch with a scroll on hand. He read the contents of the scroll before giving out a sigh and running a hand through his hair. He set the scroll on the couch before sitting up and walking to his small kitchen, careful not to step on the many objects scattered around the floor. The blond reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk, careful to see the expiration day before taking a big gulp.

Jiraiya had given him a scroll on sealing some time ago, it was how he had started to practice the art. Right now he found his next lesson to be more difficult than the others, it talked about different uses of summoning seals. He found that summoning seals were probably the most complex of all since they could be used in many ways and mix with other types of seals easily, making it hard to remember them.

As he put the carton of milk down he prepared to go back to reading but was surprised to see a messenger hawk on his window. He walked over to it and took the scroll attached to the small belt it wore around its back. The hawk flew away into the darkness of the night while Naruto went to sit on the sofa.

'_I wonder what they want?' _he asked himself as he opened the scroll to find an A-ranked mission. He read over the details and frowned, from the looks of things it would be a quick yet dangerous mission, _'At least the team I got assigned is good.' _

"Life as a Chunin is tough, huh kid?" came the voice of Jiraiya. Naruto turned around to see Jiraiya walking around his apartment, looking over Naruto's possessions, "Ever heard of cleaning kid?"

"Too busy," Naruto replied with a smirk. He ran a hand through his hair with a frown on his face as he motioned at the scroll, "I do wonder why there are people like this."

"Remember that we live in a big world," Jiraiya began with a look of understanding, "Each person has different ideals and have gone through different things. Many experiences breed hate and it corrupts the person, making them do stupid things."

"Then why can't we just end the hate?" Naruto asked in desperation.

Jiraiya smiled. "I'm glad I made you my apprentice," he admitted. Naruto gave him an odd look, making the sage chuckle, "I've always asked myself how to stop the hate but can't find an answer myself. I'm glad that I'll have someone else looking for the answer long after I'm gone."

"Don't worry Jiraiya-sensei, I'll find the answer one day," Naruto affirmed with a grin on his face.

* * *

Gaara stood before the Sand village council. They had requested him to see him in order to talk about the mission they had assigned him. He could see the hate in their eyes and knew that they assigned him the mission in hopes of getting him killed and saw him only as a tool to be used. Instead of just attacking, like he did before, he knew to keep his cool and not let them get to him. Naruto had shown him that there was hope for them and to never give up no matter what the world threw at you. He had taken those words to heart and would prove that he wasn't a monster anymore.

"There have been reports of our shinobi killed on the outskirts of the village," one of the councilmen began, "We have asked the Leaf for help and they agreed to send a team of ninja. You are to join them and make sure to kill whoever is doing this to our ninja."

"Also remember to keep an eye on the Leaf ninja," a councilwoman warned, "Though they gave us their word, we can't fully trust them. They might attack us if we're not careful, don't be afraid to kill them if the time comes."

Gaara nodded at the council, knowing what he had to do.

"You are dismissed," a councilman said.

"Very well," Gaara muttered as he left the room.

* * *

The next morning saw Naruto preparing to leave his apartment. His Chunin vest carried the essentials for an outside mission on the scrolls that filled his pockets and his eyes held a burning determination to get the mission done as fast as possible. He made sure to lock his door as he exited his apartment before making his way to the Hokage's office, where his team was supposed to meet for a last minute briefing from the Hokage.

As he walked through the streets of Konoha his eyes suddenly widened and his blood ran cold. A little distance away from his apartment stood Inoichi with his hardened gaze burning into Naruto's eyes.

'_This is it,' _Naruto thought as trickles of sweat ran down his face, _'He's finally come to kill me. Can't say I had a very good life, but farewell everyone.'_

"I need to talk to you," Inoichi stated as he walked over to the frozen Naruto. He found it hard to keep from laughing at the blond's gaping face, he wondered if he had looked like that when meeting his father-in-law.

"W-what is it?" Naruto asked with a nervous smile. Missions, enemy ninja, and crazy pedophiles didn't scare him but Inoichi struck terror to the blond.

Inoichi kept his gaze hardened before breaking into a small smirk. "Relax kid, I only came to wish you luck on your mission. Ino said she was sorry she couldn't see you off but she's busy with her training. You're mission to Sand, I heard that it was a hard one so be careful out there," he watched Naruto looked at him in confusion, causing the Jonin to grin in amusement, "Calm down already."

"Yeah…" Naruto sighed out, a little relieved at being able to live longer.

"But remember," Inoichi continued with a cheery tone. "Even though you're her boyfriend, if you ever do anything indecent to my little princess…" gone was the cheery attitude as the Jonin gave an evil aura and glared at Naruto, staring into his soul, "I will castrate you with a spoon."

Naruto swallowed nervously. "I promise that it won't happen," he managed while sweating bullets.

The Jonin nodded before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Naruto gave a sigh of relief and ran a hand through his hair, getting into that man's bad side would be the last thing he would do. Giving another sigh the Chunin continued on his way to the Hokage's office a little faster this time while throwing quick glances over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed.

"I'll never look at a spoon the same way…" Naruto muttered as he continued on his way.

* * *

Shikamaru inwardly sighed as he stood inside the Hokage's office. A mission had disturbed his holy sleeping time the previous night, then the next morning his mom had pestered him on doing a good job on his new mission and to top it off he had ran into the loud Lee earlier, a truly troublesome morning for him. Now he waited for the team that would accompany him to the Sand to show up, wasting the time he could have used to sleep.

The door suddenly opened to reveal a grinning Naruto. "Hey old man," he greeted with a grin on his face, "Sorry about being a little late but I…" He remembered the meeting with Inoichi and shuddered, "I ran into some… perturbing things."

"It's alright Naruto but make sure not to make a habit out of it," the Third replied with a nod, subconsciously thinking about Kakashi's habits.

Naruto chuckled before standing next to Shikamaru, giving him a light nod. "We're going to be on the same team again?" the lazy genius sighed with a playful grin, "I guess it won't be a very peaceful mission if you're involved."

"What can I say?" Naruto replied with a grin, "Trouble just follows me around."

"Now we can begin," the Hokage announced as he took a drag out of his pipe.

Naruto's ears perked up at this, throwing the Hokage an odd look. "Aren't we missing someone?" he asked, "The scroll said that three of us would go to the Sand and meet with another ninja there."

"He's the third member of your team," the Hokage stated, pointing at the doorway.

Naruto turned to his right to see Sasuke enter the office with a blank look on his face. "Hn," the Uchiha grunted as a greeting before standing on the opposite side of his teammates.

"As you know this mission came from the Sand," the Hokage began with a hint of exhaustion on his voice. "Many of their Genin and some Chunin are being murdered on the outskirts of their village. They asked for our aid because they can't afford to send a Jonin but will have a ninja help you with the mission. Remember that our promotion system is different, with us being more demanding, so you should be enough for this mission. You are to find out who's behind the attacks and get rid of the threat. This will be an A-rank mission because it will improve relations with the Sand village, understood?"

"Got it," Naruto replied while his two teammates nodded.

"Then you are to leave for your mission now, good luck," the Hokage ordered as the three ninja left his office. He knew that the threat wasn't too great since only low-leveled ninja were being killed but he still hoped for their safe return, for they carried the Will of Fire.

The Hokage got back to his paperwork and gave a sigh. The stress that came with the job was getting to him and he felt more tired each day. He thought of retiring from the job but knew that it wouldn't be possible until the village was back on its feet, stepping down now would only agitate the villagers. He only hoped that he could retire soon, he missed his reading time.

**Ch. 23 End**

**That will be all for now. I know that this chapter was a kind of filler but I wanted to write about the struggles some of the characters are going through. A funny thing I realized on this chapter was that this is the first chapter where Hinata is mentioned! If you're a Hinata fan then I'm sorry but I couldn't really find a spot for her until now. **

**Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	24. Meetings at Sand

**Sorry for the delay guys but I've been really busy lately. Like I said before, I will be able to update once a week so I'm glad that I somehow managed to update this week. Thank you guys for all of the reviews and of course, for putting this story on their favorites, it just makes my day to see that people like this story.**

**I didn't get a lot of questions last chapter and the ones I did get I can't answer because they have to do with the plot and I want to keep it a surprise. What I can tell you is that Naruto and Ino haven't told anyone, other than the team they left with, about their relationship. This is because they simply didn't have a lot of free time on their hands but don't worry, everyone will find out soon. That is all for now, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 24 Meetings at Sand**

Naruto leapt through trees with a frown on his face. His team, consisting of Shikamaru and Sasuke, was ahead of him moving at a steady pace. It had been a few hours since they had left the Leaf village and things had been rather uneventful. There were no missing ninja looking for fights, no evil organizations looking for destruction, or bandits looking for a quick buck but then again it had only been a few hours.

Naruto's frown deepened, knowing his luck things would go from normal to bad in just a few seconds and then to worse in an instant. He wondered if every ninja went through this when on a mission but guessed that it shouldn't be too surprising in the world they lived in. Jiraiya had been right, there would always be conflict on the world regardless of what they did.

A sigh escaped the Chunin's lips as he followed his teammates. Part of him was glad to be out on a mission since it had been almost a week since he saw any action but the other part of him wished for a few more days of rest. Missions were incredibly exhausting both mentally and physically and more than a week would be needed after the mission he had gone through.

From the looks of things the next mission would be no better than the last one. It had only begun and things were already looking bad. For one, none of them were familiar with the Sand village or its surroundings meaning that they would have to trust a former enemy ninja to guide them through it safely. Secondly, Sasuke was acting a lot more emo-ish than usual, not even sparing a word. And finally, he had left his poor wallet, Gamma, all alone and out in the open. He was sure that Jiraiya would find it and drain it of cash, sometimes his master was just too unbearable. Naruto sighed once more, making Shikamaru snap his gaze towards him.

"Will you stop your sighing already?" he snapped with an irritated sigh, "You're starting to sound like me."

Naruto chuckled. "We wouldn't want that would we?" he joked with an easy-going smile. Shikamaru turned back to the path they were taking, noticing that Sasuke had gone ahead of them, "Are we almost there?"

"Not even close," Shikamaru replied with a sigh as he took out a scroll from one of his Chunin vest's pockets. He opened it to reveal a map of Fire Country and its borders, "According to the map it's a day-long trip from Konoha to the Sand. Considering the speed we're traveling at and the distance left we should be there a little past midnight."

"Good," Naruto said with a smile, "Should we travel the whole way there?"

Shikamaru kept his gaze on the path before him, his map on his vest's pocket once more. "Don't think so," he answered with a thoughtful look on his face, "Remember that even though we took this mission, we can't be too vulnerable around Sand since they were our enemies a few months ago. Call me paranoid but I don't want to be too weak around former enemies."

Naruto nodded, remembering his fight with Gaara. If he was to fight the Sand jinchuuriki again then he would need all of his strength. He still wasn't sure if his words had changed the Sand ninja but being too careful around him wouldn't be a bad idea.

* * *

A single hooded ninja stood on the dunes around the Sand village, the ninja's arms were crossed as he looked at the faraway village. His physical attributes giving his gender away, the broad shoulders underneath his brown hood and his large height revealed him to be a man.

The air reeked of blood as the man turned on his heel, walking away from the village. Corpses of Sand ninja were scattered around him as he continued to walk as if nothing was wrong. He stepped on the corpses without hesitation, stepping on the open guts of a corpse, causing a stream of blood to shoot off the corpse's stomach.

The ninja had to get ready since he already knew that they would send ninja from Konoha due to his feats. It was a good thing to have so many spies around the Sand village since it meant that he could always be prepared. A few Leaf ninja wouldn't stop his plans since his goal was too great to be stopped. He continued to walk through the desert, knowing what needed to be done.

* * *

Gaara stood on the roof of his family's home. It was nighttime which meant that he had no one to talk to, which was a good thing since he had a lot of things on his mind. He was thinking of the mission he had been assigned. He was to help out a Konoha team in finding and killing the ninja they had called the Red Death, since he left the sand a deep crimson color every time he attacked. While on this mission he was too also spy on the Leaf ninja and kill them if they showed too much interest on the Sand village. In the past he would've simply killed them even if he didn't need to but now he didn't know what to do.

He had had no one on his life when growing up, not even the uncle he had loved like a father. He became the monster everyone feared and thought that nobody understood his pain and motives. When he met Naruto he saw him as just another fool but it wasn't until their fight that he learned who he really was. The Leaf ninja had shared his pain, not having anyone and feeling as if his existence didn't matter. Gaara had felt relieved to know that he wasn't alone on the world, someone had shared his pain and understood him better than anyone.

When Naruto told him that he fought to protect people, he had been at a loss of words. How had Naruto forgiven the people that brought him pain? Why did he work so hard to protect those bonds? Even though he is still trying to figure out those answers, he feels as though he learns a little more each day. His bond with his siblings grew deeper and they were not uncomfortable around him anymore. He was starting to see what a bond was and already guessed as to why Naruto fought so hard to protect his precious people.

"I won't kill anyone," Gaara muttered to himself, gazing at the night sky. _'I won't be the tool of the council,' _he decided as he watched the stars, set on changing his ways.

* * *

"Good morning!" Naruto cheered as he walked around camp, the sun rising on the horizon. He gazed at his two teammates and noticed that they were still asleep, clearly not minding the sand underneath them. "Are you guys serious?" he sighed out.

Receiving no answer Naruto ran a hand through his hair, thinking of a way to wake up his team. The Chunin suddenly smirked, his prankster side resurfacing.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he muttered as two clones appeared before him, both with mischievous smirks.

* * *

Ino walked around Konoha with a determined expression on her face. Her chakra control had increased as had her reserves. She was on her way to the hospital to find the 'legendary sucker' Tsunade. Since her last mission she had wanted to learn some medical jutsu, enough to help heal Naruto or her other teammates if the situation came.

The kunoichi entered the hospital to see that it was a little emptier than normal but it was to be expected since most ninja had been healed meaning that there were not as many visitors. She made her way to Tsunade's office, knowing where it was since she had gone there when Naruto was about to be discharged. On her way there she ran into Hinata, carrying a single white flower.

"Here to see Kiba again?" Ino asked with a knowing smile.

"Y-yeah," Hinata responded in a quiet voice, shy around the confident kunoichi, "H-he hasn't woken up yet but the medics told me that talking to him would help."

Ino nodded with a small smile, glad to see that Hinata was looking at the positives. "Well I have to go meet with Lady Tsunade," she began, walking around the Hyuuga heiress. She gave the other kunoichi a confident smile, "I want her to train me so that I'll be able to help Naruto out a little more."

"W-wait," Hinata tried to call out in a quiet voice but Ino had already left, "What does she want with Naruto?"

* * *

Sasuke slept on the sleeping bag he had set up the day prior. The team had made it out of the deep forests of Fire Country and was now on sandy terrain. As they had planned before, they had set up camp in order to be one-hundred percent the next day. He had been against the idea but had still made sure that everything was comfortable so that he could sleep, which is why his brows furrowed in confusion when he felt way too warm.

Now, Sasuke might have been emotionless most of the time but, contrary to popular belief, he could still actually 'feel' things. Which is why when he opened his eyes to see a bald burly man on his sleeping bag wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, his eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"AAAHHH!" Sasuke screamed as he shot out of bed. He glared at the man and froze when he noticed he was naked, "W-wh-what…?"

"What's wrong Sasuke?" the man asked in a hurt tone, "You act like you don't love me anymore."

Sasuke shook violently, thinking of rather disturbing scenarios before he finally threw up in disgust. A hysterical laugh pierced the dunes making Sasuke snap his head towards the source. The man dispelled as Sasuke growled when he saw Naruto rolling on the sand, holding his sides in pain.

"You should have seen your face!" Naruto laughed as tears rolled down his eyes.

"Bastard…" Sasuke growled as he clenched his fists.

"Shhh," Naruto shushed as he pointed at the sleeping Shikamaru. Sasuke glanced at the lazy Chunin and fought the urge to smirk.

This time an old skinny man made his way to Shikamaru's sleeping bag. The two members of Team Seven focused on the scene when the clone suddenly stopped on its tracks, a shadow attached to its own. A kunai caught the clone between the eyes as Shikamaru rose from his sleeping bag with a smirk on his face.

"What just happened?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"You didn't think I would fall for it, did you?" Shikamaru asked as he dusted his pants, "I've known you for quite a while and you're pranks won't work on me anymore."

"Whatever," Naruto pouted before breaking into a grin, "I still got Sasuke though."

"Hn," Sasuke huffed with his arms crossed, irritated at having been made a fool of.

"Anyway," Shikamaru began with a yawn, "Let's pack this up and get going, we have a long day ahead of us."

"Right," Naruto agreed as he made a few clones to clean up the camp. As soon as the clones were done, the group set off once more on their way to Suna.

* * *

Tsunade sighed as she sat on her office's desk. Since she was the best known medic of the Leaf they had made her the head of the hospital, meaning that she was now responsible for it. She had no idea what had made her take the job but now she was stuck with it and to make matters worse, Shizune would always make sure she didn't run off somewhere. She glared at the pile of paperwork on her desk before hearing a knock on her door.

'_Finally, a distraction,' _Tsunade sighed in relief as she cleared her throat. "Enter," she called as the door opened to reveal Ino. The legendary medic furrowed her brows, not having the slightest idea as to why Ino had come looking for her, "What can I help you with?"

"I want to train under you," Ino announced with her eyes full of determination.

Tsunade looked over the girl with a careful eye, taking another apprentice wasn't something she had had in mind but something about Ino intrigued her. "Why would you want to train under me?" she questioned, "From what I heard, you're training under Kurenai."

"I am," Ino responded with her gaze downcast. "But I want to learn medial jutsu so that I can help heal those close to me," she turned her gaze to Tsunade to reveal the desperation on her eyes, "Watching Naruto so hurt on our last mission and not being able to heal him made me feel so helpless. I don't want to ever see him like that again so please help me."

Tsunade sighed, understanding the reasoning of the young kunoichi. She knew how Ino felt, a little too well in fact, it was how she had felt around Dan whenever he got hurt. She thought of giving her a chance, why not? There was also the fact that there would be hard battles ahead and having an extra medic wouldn't hurt. Having more time away from the hospital wold only be icing on the cake.

"Fine," Tsunade agreed, smiling lightly at the exited expression on Ino's face, "I'll train you in medical jutsu but I have to warn you that my training will not be light."

Ino nodded with a determined expression. "Don't worry, I don't plan on quitting," she assured with a grin, "If I did then I wouldn't be able to show my face around Naruto again."

"Very well," Tsunade said with a smile on her face, "We'll start your training tomorrow at eleven in the morning sharp."

"Isn't that a little late?" Ino asked with an odd look.

"Do you want to train under me or not?" Tsunade growled, making Ino laugh nervously, "I'll have my assistant Shizune take care of things here so I'll be able to focus on your training a little more."

"Right," Ino nodded with an exited smile.

"Then I hereby accept you as my apprentice, Ino Yamanaka."

* * *

Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke walked around the streets of the Sand village. Their buildings were made of brown stone, and the streets were just as lively as in Konoha. Seeing their headbands many civilians threw them wary looks and others would enter their homes in what appeared to be fear.

Sasuke smirked as he walked, seeing the fear people had of him made him feel powerful and dangerous. He turned to his teammates to see that they were both acting as if nothing was happening, simply ignoring the reactions of the civilians. The Uchiha frowned at this, they were no better than the weaklings that had called themselves Uchiha once, the two idiots weren't taking advantage of the fear people had for them.

Naruto sighed as the three ninja continued to walk around the village. People might be shocked at seeing them here and saw them as dangerous but in reality they were completely lost. The mission scroll the Hokage had given them had told them to speak with Suna's council, what they failed to explain was how to get there. He had thought it would be easy to find them since important people were usually in the tallest buildings but the streets were so narrow and crowded that it was impossible to know where they were. Jumping around the rooftops would be a bad idea since it might agitate some people and start conflict.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered with a lazy expression. Walking around a warm village under the scorching sun had never been one of the things he looked forward to. Finding the council was his first priority since it would mean that he could take it easy after that. He had tried asking people but they just wouldn't answer him and turn away.

The three ninja turned a corner and Naruto's right eye instantly twitched. "Now I know we're lost!" he snapped in anger. In front of him nothing but sand, "How the hell did we end up here?"

"Man this village is such a pain in the ass," Shikamaru groaned.

"Perhaps I'll be able to help," said a monotone voice from behind the trio. The three ninja turned around to see Gaara standing on top of a building with his arms crossed, an expressionless look on his face.

"Gaara of the Sand…" Sasuke growled with narrowed eyes, his last fight with the Sand ninja not being one he was proud of.

"Calm down Sasuke," Naruto broke in with a serious look on his face, his eyes studying Gaara, "We can't get into a fight here."

"He's right," Shikamaru agreed, "If we fight here then we'll have several Sand ninja after our heads, so let's not do something stupid."

Sasuke snarled at the two ninja. "Do you think I'll listen to some no-class shinobi like you? I'm ending this before it begins," the Uchiha charged at Gaara, jumping high in the air before throwing a horizontal kick.

As he got closer to the target, Naruto suddenly appeared before him catching his kick as if it were nothing. Sasuke tried to break away but a Naruto clone kicked him away. The Uchiha landed on the ground with a growl, having no idea when the Chunin had the time to create a clone. He instantly stood back up but found that he couldn't move any further. His eyes gazed at the ground to see his shadow a little larger than before, meaning that he was now under Shikamaru's jutsu.

"I told you to calm down…" Naruto said to Sasuke in a cold voice, his eyes calm and collected, "Genin."

Sasuke gritted his teeth at the blond Chunin, furious at the thought of being inferior to him. The Uchiha hadn't thought much of Naruto's strength until now, the loser had managed to block his attack with ease and knock him away with a rather painful kick. Had Naruto become stronger than him?

Naruto turned to Gaara with a nervous smile. "Sorry about that, but we do need some help," he lamely said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Very well," Gaara began in the same emotionless voice, "You're searching for the council?"

"We are," Shikamaru informed with an irritated look on his face, his shadow still holding Sasuke.

"Follow me then," Gaara instructed as he leapt away from the building, Naruto following close behind him.

Shikamaru sighed as he let go off his jutsu, frowning when Sasuke glared at him. "Remember that we're in a former enemy's village," the lazy Chunin began, "This mission serves as a way to improve relations between our villages, this is our true objective. Naruto and I aren't ones to pull rank but if you jeopardize our mission then we have no choice but to assume our authority." With that the Chunin leapt after Naruto and Gaara, leaving an angry Sasuke behind.

Sasuke glared at the retreating figure of Shikamaru before following after them. _'They will pay for this,' _he thought as he clenched his fists, _'They only managed to hold me because I was distracted but next time I'll show them the true power of the Uchiha!' _

* * *

Naruto, Shikamaru, Sasuke and Gaara stood before a large building that had a somewhat similar appearance to the Hokage's office. The light brown building stood in the middle of the village, much to the annoyance of Naruto since it should have been obvious.

"You'll find the council inside," Gaara informed with his arms crossed.

"Thanks for the help," Naruto said with a grin on his face.

"It was no problem," Gaara replied with a light nod.

"Let's go inside, the sooner we're out of this heat the better," Shikamaru suggested as he entered the building with his cheeks flushed from the heat. Sasuke followed behind him with a frown on his face, not bothering to acknowledge the others.

Naruto nodded at Gaara. "See you later," he said with a light wave before following after his teammates.

The blond Chunin found the inside of the building to be a lot cooler than it looked. It somehow kept the warmth away and by Shikamaru's relaxed expression, he knew that he felt the same relief. They were in a large room with a few receptionists' desks on both walls, decorations such as paintings and coffee tables adorning the room.

Naruto moved to talk to one of the receptionists while Shikamaru sat on a cushioned chair with an irritated sigh and Sasuke leaned against a wall with his eyes closed. He met the gaze of the receptionist and saw her flinch when seeing his headband.

"M-may I help you?" she asked a little afraid.

Naruto nodded. "We're here to meet with the council," he explained, "We were suppose to go over some details on our mission."

The receptionist looked over a piece of paper listing many names before turning to the Chunin with a smile on her face, taking him by surprise. "You're the ones after the Red Death!" she said with glee, "The council is expecting you. They're on the third floor, it's the only room there."

"Right," Naruto responded with a nervous smile. He moved back to his team and motioned for them to follow him.

The three moved towards the stairs with Shikamaru sighing rather loudly. "Stairs…" he groaned, making Naruto chuckle, "Anyway, what did the receptionist say? She looked rather happy."

"I don't know what she meant but she asked if we were the ones after the 'Red Death,'" he responded.

"Might be the name of the person behind those slaughters," Shikamaru suggested.

"Might be…" Naruto agreed with a serious expression, somehow he knew that the name would hold true in the future.

* * *

The man known as Red Death walked around the dunes of the desert, looking for his needed victims. The ninja smirked beneath his gas-mask, a small team of Sand ninja walked the desert with kunai on their hands. He chuckled, they were clearly watching out for him. From what he saw they were no higher than Genin level since he saw many mistakes on their formations. They were clearly adults from their height, an easy kill from the looks of things.

Sand picked up around the team of Genin, covering their vision. One of the Genin watched the sand turned a crimson red before noticing that one of his comrades was gone. The Sand ninja turned to his other comrade and watched as his body was suddenly ripped in half by an unknown force, blood splattering out of his body as organs and tissues covered the terrorized man.

"Do you fear death?" came a deep voice from outside the whirlwind of crimson sand. The Genin shook in terror, he tried to move but found that his body refused to move.

"P-please… don't kill me," the Genin begged with a few tears falling from his eyes.

"That's funny," Red Death said with a chuckle, "Why should I spare you? Nobody spared my people and only helped once they were gone, why do you think I'll help someone like you?"

The Sand ninja gasped when a deep cut appeared on his right arm, running from his shoulder to his wrist. So engrossed by his wound, the Genin didn't noticed the shadow appearing behind him with the outline of a scythe on its hands.

* * *

Naruto and his two teammates entered the Sand's council room. It was a large room with a large circular table on the middle, there were a few windows on the room and many decorations filled the room. The council men and women sat around the table, all appearing to be veteran ninja from the scars and tired looks on their faces.

"Good to see the Leaf sent a team to aid us," a councilman said with a light smile, though it appeared forced.

"It's an honor to be of service to you," Shikamaru responded with a light nod.

"Let's just get down do business," a councilwoman said with a bored tone on her raspy voice, "We're here to speak about the terms of the mission."

"Right," Naruto agreed.

"Your target has been nicknamed the 'Red Death,'" the councilwoman informed with a frown on her face, "Nobody has survived his attacks so we have no idea of his fighting methods. He is rumored to attack a small village a few miles from here constantly. We will give you a map when our meeting is over."

"We have no definite location on the culprit," a councilman said, "You'll have to search the desert if you wish to find more about that person. It is unknown is he acts alone, if he doesn't then you are to kill his followers."

"That is all about the mission," an old woman said, "You are to start the search when you see fit. The ninja we assigned to accompany you will meet you outside."

"Understood," Naruto and Shikamaru responded in a firm tone.

"You are dismissed," a councilman said in a raised tone.

The group of Leaf ninja left the room, finding Gaara standing in the hall with his arms crossed. "Shall we get started with our mission?" he asked in an emotionless voice.

"You're the ninja they assigned?" Naruto asked incredulously. Receiving a nod from Gaara, the Chunin sighed. Sasuke had already tried to fight Gaara and having the two of them on a team would prove to be too much trouble, "Fine, let's get going then."

Shikamaru suppressed a groan as the team began to move out of the room. Things were already looking troublesome and knew that there would be conflict on this mission. From the looks of things Sasuke was still mad at Naruto and wary around Gaara. If they didn't handle things properly then a fight would eventually break out between them and that was the last thing they needed in a mission like this.

"This is going to be such a pain in the ass," Shikamaru muttered as the team headed out of the building.

**Ch. 24 End**

**That will be it for today guys. Not a lot of action here but it will pick up next chapter. As you can see there's tension between the group. **

**Thank you for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	25. Terror of the Red Death

**Hey guys, here's the next chapter as promised. Thanks to all of you for the great reviews and of course for adding this story to their favorites. I am very happy with the feedback and now I'll answer some of your questions. **

**First of all yes, there will be some light Sakura bashing but it will come from other characters. I don't really think I'll refer to her in any offensive way since I think that a writer can't show how he feels about a character **_**in**_** the story. But I pretty much know how you feel, Sakura was a complete bitch on this part of the series. **

**I got a bunch of reviews talking about killing Sasuke but I won't be able to since he's important to the story. What I can guarantee is that his future will be a lot different than in canon.**

**Kushina was nicknamed the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero and her nickname has no relation with Red Death. But I have to admit that your guess was waaaay too close to what I have in mind. So I must say that you're a sharp one Curious. **

**That's all for now since the other questions will be answered on this chapter, I hope you like this chapter. **

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 25 Terror of the Red Death**

Shikamaru was a pretty laid back person, sometimes misunderstood as lazy, he believed. For some time now he had been walking around the desert with his team, looking for any sort of sign of their target. By now he had come to a conclusion, he hated sand. It got into very uncomfortable places and walking on it was a pain in the ass. He couldn't wait to get back to the Leaf and watch the clouds from his favorite spot at his home, a wooden porch on his backyard.

A sigh escaped his lips, thinking about his home just made him hate the sand even more. The sediment kept him from going home and each step he took made him miss home even more. He glanced around at his group and suppressed a groan. Naruto was walking ahead of them with clones miles away from them as scouts, Gaara walked behind the blond Chunin with his arms closed, while Sasuke was as far away from the group as possible. Not the most stable team and he was sure that it would cause problems on the future, it was certain.

"Nothing," Naruto sighed out, gaining the memories from the clones he used as scouts, breaking the silence amongst the group..

"The desert around the village is too vast," Gaara began, his voice emotionless, "Even with your clones, it will take at least a week to cover it."

Shikamaru groaned, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Let's just go to that small village the council was talking about," he suggested, "If he attacks there we'll be able to ambush him and finish this pain in the ass mission."

Gaara shook his head. "That wouldn't be wise," he responded, "The council is not to be trusted."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked in confusion, having no idea of how things worked on the Sand village or councils for that matter. Back in the Leaf, everything was left to the Hokage with the council only intervening on the most important matters.

"They do not trust the Leaf," Gaara began, his gaze on the Leaf team, "I was to kill you if the situation arose and I'm sure that they hid things from us. Ever since the Kazekage was killed the council took over and became corrupt with power."

Shikamaru sighed and crossed his arms, trying to think of some kind of plan. In retrospect, walking around the desert looking for their target wasn't the brightest idea since they could be walking into a trap for all they knew. If they were to take down someone who was surely stronger than them then they would need to outsmart him.

"We should head to that village," Shikamaru concluded with a serious look on his face, "Even if the council is not to be trusted, we still might find something there. We'll send some clones first to make sure it's safe."

Naruto nodded at Shikamaru and made four clones, having three of them henge like his team. "Go to the village marked here," he instructed, giving them a scroll, "Make sure that it's safe and dispel as soon as you're done."

The clone henged like Gaara scoffed, crossing its arms. "Why should we go?" it complained with a frown, "It sounds like you're just too lazy to go."

"Just go already!" Naruto snapped in anger.

"Shut up! You're not the boss of me!" the clone yelled back.

Shikamaru watched the two argue with a tired expression on his face. He really had no idea _how _or _why _Naruto's clones had personalities but it was always troublesome to have them argue.

"Then don't go! I'm sure some other clone could do it a lot faster!" Naruto yelled at the clone.

"Then I'll go! I'll finish looking around to show what an idiot you are," the clone said before leaving with its counterparts.

Naruto chuckled. "I knew I'd get them to go," he boasted with a proud smile, "Those clones are really stupid."

"You know, they're exact copies of you so if they're stupid then you're stupid too," Shikamaru pointed out, inwardly smirking at Naruto's shocked look.

"W-wait, that's not what I meant," Naruto urged with a panicked expression.

Sasuke watched the exchange with a frown on his face. He didn't understand how they could be so relaxed in the middle of a mission but it angered him. They could be using this time to grow stronger but instead, they fooled around like little kids. This just showed him that ranks didn't matter, when it came to power he was the best. After all he was an Uchiha, and the other two were beneath him since they couldn't compare to the might of his clan.

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed with a smirk, "I won't allow those weaklings to go unpunished for what they did to me. I'll put them in their place soon enough."

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone, staring blankly at the names carved into it. So many lives had been lost and most of them were of shinobi that didn't exceed the age of thirty. He had made a habit of visiting once in a while since the people he held dear had their names carved on the stone. His sensei, his two teammates and many comrades he had grown close to over the years.

The reason of his visit this time was that he was having trouble with his team. Visiting the memorial stone always gave him peace, something he could use to sort his thoughts. As of now his team was falling apart, what once held them close now pushed them away from each other. Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry had been the thing to hold the team together, both of them working hard not to be left behind by the other made them grow a sort of friendship. Sakura got to spend more time with Sasuke and in turn was a little nicer to Naruto.

Meeting Itachi again, had made Sasuke question everything. Kakashi had noticed that, during the time before meeting Itachi, Sasuke had been slowly forgetting his drive for revenge. But as things turned out, Sasuke was now jealous of Naruto's progress and had become more secluded. Since the Uchiha had been the reason why Sakura met with the team, she now used her free time to look for her crush.

Naruto on the other hand, had been unable to accompany them to D-rank missions and team training. Kakashi knew that being a Chunin didn't give much free time but it was still possible to meet with your old teammates, instead the blond Chunin chose to spend his free time training or with Team Ten. Each of his students were walking very different paths and would eventually forget what brought them together.

Kakashi sighed, looking at the names of his lost comrades. "What would you have done, Sensei?" he muttered with his eye downcast. He was the Jonin instructor of Team Seven and he could do nothing as his team drifted apart. He only hoped that Naruto's mission with Sasuke would clear things between the two.

* * *

A mercenary stood before the Suna council, his head bowed showing the sword strapped to his back. He had long black hair, a goatee, deep black eyes and wore garments similar to that of a samurai.

"It's an honor to be of service to an actual Hidden Village," the mercenary spoke in a deep voice.

"It's not usual for a Hidden Village to ask for a mercenary's help but, regrettably, our village is in that situation," a councilman began, with the other members of the council nodding their heads in agreement, "We have asked for you since we know that you specialize in assassination."

"That is true," the mercenary replied with no sign of pride in his voice.

"Not long ago we sent out a group of ninja to take care of the Red Death," a councilwoman informed in a strict voice, "We can't trust the ninja sent on this mission since it's made up of three Leaf ninja and a very unstable Sand jinchuuriki."

"A jinchuuriki?" the mercenary looked at the council in shock.

"Yes, he's the holder of the Shukaku," the councilmen said, smirking at the shocked reaction of the mercenary, "You are to make sure they kill the Red Death and if the Leaf ninja learn too much of our village, then you are to kill them."

"Am I supposed to kill the jinchuuriki also?" the mercenary asked blankly.

The councilwomen shook her head. "While we don't doubt your abilities, it wouldn't be good if the jinchuuriki died. If that happened then we would have to seal the Shukaku once more when it resurrects a few years later," the women said with a hint of disappointment in her voice, "But if, for any reason, he is to aid the Leaf ninja then you have permission to kill it."

The mercenary broke into a smirk, ambition burning on his eyes. "Killing a jinchuuriki…" the man began in a pleased voice, "That's just the thing I need for my record. I'll make sure to take care of things."

One of the members of the council watched them with narrowed eyes. She couldn't believe just how corrupted the council was, they would kill the Leaf ninja and claim that they had died in action. Though she was hesitant for relations with Konoha, due to her hatred for the White Fang, she knew that it would be the best for the people of Sand. Hopefully the Leaf ninja would leave unscratched though she knew that they were going against the odds, since whenever you set foot on another village you were technically gaining too much knowledge of it.

* * *

Naruto sat on a boulder with his arms crossed, his sleeves were rolled up and his Chunin vest was safely on a scroll he had set on his right pocket. The heat of the desert was unbearable at the moment and it didn't help that he wore dark blue pants and a black long-sleeve shirt. He would make sure to buy some new clothes for the mission since he wouldn't be able to fight in such heat.

Shikamaru stood on the scorching sand, watching the small village on the distance. The council wasn't kidding when they told them that it was small, the small village's buildings could probably be counted but he really didn't feel like counting since it would take effort. Like Naruto, he had taken off his vest and put it away on a scroll. It would also help since no enemy ninja would know of their rank and probably think of them as Genin, meaning that they would have the element of surprise.

Sasuke stood a little away from the group, leaning against a large boulder. From the looks of things the plain desert ended soon. He kept throwing glances at Gaara, not really trusting the Sand shinobi. He wished that Gaara would attack since this time he would be able to put an end to him and show that he was more powerful than Naruto.

Naruto suddenly stiffened before breaking into a grin, earning confused looks from his two teammates and a glance from Gaara. "The village is safe, there's no sign of any ninja," he informed with a grin, getting up from the rock and turning to his teammates, "They did find some bandits but none of them looked strong. It's a little strange though, they didn't find any signs of civilians. Then again, they could just be trying to avoid the bandits."

Shikamaru sighed in relief, happy to avoid a fight. "That's good news, we'll look for an inn when we get there and maybe find out why everyone is hiding," he instructed as he began to walk towards the village. The team followed after him at steady paces, "After that we'll split up and get information on our target, someone there has to know something if he really attacks the place frequently."

"We should also hide our headbands," Gaara suggested in a calm voice, "We dont't want to attract attention to ourselves."

Naruto nodded with a grin. "Good idea," he praised as he took of his headband, with his teammates doing the same. He took out a scroll from his left pocket and place the headband there, sometimes he just loved scrolls.

Shikamaru put away his headband and gave a loud sighed, the village getting closer and closer. "Might as well end this already," he groaned with his hands in his pockets, "What a pain in the ass."

Naruto chuckled at his friend's antics but froze when he heard the sound of burning paper. He turned to his left to see an exploding tag burning on the sand. Making a clone, he had it run at the explosive as he jumped away from the area.

"Scatter!" he exclaimed, his team immediately jumping away from the area. The clone picked up the explosive, wrapped it around a kunai and hurled it away from the group.

The explosive tag exploded, taking the clone with it in a large cloud of smoke. Sand picked up in the area, forcing the Leaf ninja to shield their eyes while Gaara looked around for any sign of an enemy. Seeing the outline of a person on the smoke, he shot a stream of sand at it. His eyes widened when the outline disappeared before reappearing from above.

"He's right on top of us," Gaara stated in a calm voice that betrayed how he really felt.

Naruto turned to Gaara, still shielding his eyes from the sand. "Take him down when I clear the sand," he instructed as he closed his eyes and faced away from the group, running through hand signs, "Wind Style: Devastation!"

A powerful gust of wind came out of Naruto's mouth, effectively getting rid of the sand around the area. Gaara watched a hooded man descending upon them, a scythe with a red blade on his hands, before shooting a large steam of sand. The man saw this coming and spun in the air, dodging the blow but didn't expect the stream of sand to turn into a giant hand. The hooded man could do nothing as the large hand made of sand took hold of his leg before slamming him to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

"Is he dead?" Sasuke asked with a frown on his face.

The hooded man jumped away from the cloud of dust and landed on the ground with ease, clearly not affected by the last attack. "I'm sorry to say that I'm not," the man taunted, twirling his scythe on his right hand, "Are you upset that I'm still alive?"

Sasuke smirked. "Not at all!" he yelled before charging at the man, running through hand signs, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

A large ball of fire shot out of Sasuke's mouth, shooting directly at the man. The hooded ninja jumped away from the ball of fire and swung his scythe on the air. The Uchiha's eyes widened when he saw water come out of the scythe and shoot directly at him. Activating his sharingan, Sasuke rolled away from the shot of water and jumped away from the man.

The man landed on the sand before stabbing his scythe into the ground. "I have to admit that you're better than most trash around here," he began, crossing his arms, "But I'm still taking it easy on you. I could kill you in less than a second but you have me intrigued."

Naruto frowned, Shikamaru moving next to him while Gaara stood a little away from them with his sand floating around him. "I take it you're the 'Red Death' everyone is talking about?" the blond Chunin voiced.

"You are correct," Red Death cheered as he took his scythe on his hands once more, "I have no idea where you're from but I can tell you guys are way too strong for your age."

Sasuke scoffed. "We are ninja from Konoha, the village that houses the Uchiha clan," he boasted, "It's obvious that we'd be stronger that trash from other villages."

Naruto gritted his teeth, Sasuke had just given away valuable information. The man now knew what to look out for and by the smirk on the man's face, he had probably encountered some Leaf ninja in the past.

"The Leaf," Red Death chuckled, "This is just too good, I've been waiting years to get my revenge on that cowardly village and now I get my chance. I'll start my slaughter of the Leaf with you weaklings."

The man stabbed his scythe into the ground once more but this time created a powerful explosion that kicked up a cloud of sand, blocking their view once again. Naruto ran through hand signs but his body suddenly stopped moving. His heartbeat rose as he tried to move his body but found that it wouldn't even budge. His eyes turned to his team and saw that they were in the same position.

"How would you like to die?" Red Death's voice echoed through the sand covering his vision.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he tried to move, it felt as if his body was completely numb with an incredible amount of weight pushing him from all sides. His body trembled under the strain, he could see his friend struggling also with desperation on their faces. He had to find something or they would die.

The blond Chunin's eyes widened when the man appeared before him, his scythe on his hands. Red Death pulled back his hood to reveal crimson red hair under it, a gas-mask covering half of his face, brown eyes piercing his own and a headband with the Whirlpool symbol worn proudly on his forehead.

"This is your end… Konoha shinobi," Red Death announced as he raised his scythe. Naruto watched as the scythe came down, heading directly for his face.

Shikamaru and Sasuke watched with wide-eyes as the scythe approached their teammates face. The shadow user tried to move against the hold but found himself unable to do anything but watch. The Uchiha also fought against the hold on his body, as annoying as it was he had promised himself that he wouldn't watch another comrade die.

Red chakra swirled around Naruto as he desperately tried to move but to no avail. Red Death smirked under his mask but was suddenly knocked aside by a powerful stream of sand. The man growled as he landed hard against the sand before rolling to his left, dodging another steam of sand.

Red Death jumped high in the air and narrowed his eyes as the sand covering his foes gathered in the air and created a large orb of sand. He swung his scythe once more, this time shooting a powerful gust of wind. The wind impacted against the orb of sand, breaking off large part of it. The rest of the orb suddenly shot at him, before turning into many spikes of sand.

The ninja snarled as he pointed his scythe at the spikes of sand. Chakra poured out of the scythe and formed a kind of barrier in front of the man. The spikes of sand crashed against the barrier with loud impact noises, but couldn't manage to break through it.

Meanwhile the team of ninjas found themselves able to move once more, their bodies covered in sand, much to the annoyance of Shikamaru. Sasuke fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Whatever had been holding him had been crushing his whole body. Shikamaru took deep breaths, trying to compose himself, while Naruto walked over to Gaara with a tired expression on his face. Gaara remained emotionless though he was clearly exhausted over controlling sand under such a strong hold.

"Gaara…" Naruto addressed through pants, "This guy is too strong, we have to retreat for now. We'll come up with a plan later. When I say 'Do it' stop your attack and follow me, the others will follow too."

Gaara nodded as Naruto ran through hand signs, pouring most of his chakra into the attack. Shikamaru watched the blond Chunin with a frown on his face, by the looks of things he wanted to retreat the fight. This was okay with him since none of them expected to encounter their target so early.

"Do it!" Naruto exclaimed. Gaara stopped his attack, Red Death instantly charging at the group with his scythe raised high, "Wind Style: Devastations!"

Naruto shot a violent air at the ninja, carrying most of his chakra. Red Death was instantly pushed away, sand covering his whole vision. The wind didn't let up, creating a powerful sandstorm that pushed against him. He growled, those kids were annoying. He hadn't expected one of them to control sand like that and had let his guard down around them.

The wind continued to push against him for a few seconds before it finally stopped. Red Death growled, trying to see his foes through the sand around him. He jumped away from the sand, looking for any sign of his next victims.

"Dammit," Red Death growled, there was no sign of the group of ninja anywhere. They had used the attack as a distraction to escape. He was no tracker ninja so he wouldn't be able to follow a trial in the desert. He snarled, they had managed to get away but he wouldn't let it happen again. The man's eyes lit with glee, the ninja were after him meaning that it wouldn't be their last meeting, "We'll meet again Leaf ninja, and when we do I'll make sure to kill you."

* * *

Naruto panted as he sat on the sand of the desert, his team sitting near him with exhausted expressions on their faces. They had poured every last bit of chakra into their legs and managed to put a few miles between themselves and Red Death. Though Sasuke had been reluctant to leave at first, they had managed to make him follow.

"What the hell was that about?" Shikamaru snapped in disbelief, "How was he able to leave us in this state so easily?'

"I don't know but we underestimated how strong he really was," Naruto growled in anger, "He had us at his will in less than a minute. But we can't just let him run around, we still have to finish this mission."

Shikamaru nodded with a serious look on his face. "It's no wonder how he killed so many Genin," he stated as he rested against the sand, "We have to find out how he kept us from moving."

"If I had been able to move then we would've been able to kill him," Sasuke muttered with a look of anger on his face.

Naruto didn't respond, he turned to Gaara with a grin on his face. "Thanks for saving us back there," he thanked in a light tone, "You really did a number on that guy."

"It was no problem, after all, I did it to protect a friend," Gaara said in a calm voice.

"Right," Naruto agreed with a grin on his face. He turned to Shikamaru, "I guess we shouldn't go to that village just yet, Red Death was waiting for us there."

Shikamaru nodded. "It seems as if he doesn't want us in that village, he's probably hiding something there. Let's go back to the Sand village for now, maybe they'll give us some kind of back up. This guy is too strong for us to take down alone," he announced as he stood up, "Let's set out now, we can't risk running into that guy again."

"Let's go then," Naruto said as he began to walk back to the Sand village, his team following behind him.

His cheerful attitude covered how he really felt. Naruto was completely thrown off by the strength and intelligence he possessed. They couldn't overpower him or, much less, outsmart him so that would leave them to use teamwork to take him down. Looking back at the fight, the man had seen through all of their attacks and distracted them with words, he got all of them to attack independently and they couldn't let that happen again. He had failed to look underneath the underneath but promised himself that it wouldn't happen again.

* * *

The mercenary watched the team of ninja trail back to the Sand village, defeated. Earlier, he had seen their fight against Red Death. From the looks of things the masked ninja would prove to be a powerful foe. During the fight he had thought of intervening but decided against it, he knew that he would kill the Leaf ninja in the end so why stop the inevitable.

The man watched the team with a smirk on his face. Things were looking good for him, he would have the head of a jinchuuriki and the Red Death. Having these claims under his name would make his name fearsome and in turn give him better clients.

"What a great day to be me," the mercenary muttered in glee. As he walked towards the Sand village, knowing that he had to keep an eye on his targets.

**Ch. 25 End**

**That is all for today guys. The next chapter will have a few more fights but not too many. And guess what? Right now we're about halfway of the story and I plan on having a steady flow of updates until then. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	26. A Look Into the Past

**I bring a new update today! I didn't get a lot of questions last chapter but I'll still answer the ones I got.**

**The council hired the mercenary because they know that Gaara is too unstable and trusting him would be dangerous. Yes, the old woman in the council was Chiyo but she won't really play an important part on this arc. **

**That is all for now, I hope you like this chapter.**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 26 A Look Into the Past**

The group assigned with the assassination of Red Death arrived at the Sand village, defeated. They had proved no match for their target and needed back-up for their mission. Out of all the ninja on the team, Shikamaru was the only one with a basic understanding of how councils worked since his father was part of the shinobi council back in Konoha. He had told the team that the council would always look after its people before anything else, at least that's how it was supposed to work. If what Gaara had said and the council couldn't be trusted then they were in trouble.

The council would probably give them a couple of Genin or Chunin, if they were lucky. Shikamaru didn't really mind since he had come to the conclusion that rank didn't mean everything. Gaara was a Genin but he could easily defeat a Chunin if he wished while Sasuke was a Genin but was Chunin level at best. He didn't really mind what the council would give him since they were just more chess pieces to add to the game, Red Death was clearly winning but he was sure that with the right pieces, they would be able to take down the 'king.'

"Hey Shikamaru," Naruto suddenly called, snapping the lazy Chunin from his thoughts. The shinobi in question turned to the blond with a lazy expression, "I have to do some things around the village. Could you talk to the council without me?"

Shikamaru raised an eye-brow, not sure as to what Naruto had to do in a foreign village. "Um, sure it's no problem," he responded, "But could I ask what exactly you have to do." Naruto broke into a grin, the lazy Chunin sighed, "On second thought, I don't want to know."

"Alright, I'll meet up with you guys outside the Kazekage's office," Naruto said before walking away from the group, sweat running down his face due to the tremendous heat.

"I'm leaving as well," Sasuke announced as he began to walk away from the group, "I don't feel like putting up with a council at the moment."

Shikamaru rubbed the bridge with a groan. "It's just you and me then Gaara," he muttered, turning to his right. His right eye twitched when he saw no sign of jinchuuriki, another one had left, "Dammit, now I have to meet the council myself… What a pain in the ass."

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets of the Sand village, avoiding bumping into people since the streets were too crowded. He didn't understand the reason for this since he assumed that most people would be doing whatever job they did but he guessed that things worked differently on this village. Right now he was looking for some new clothes, dark blue and black attracted too much attention on the desert, not to mention how warm they were.

At first he thought of buying something orange but knew that Ino would tear him a new one if he did. A sigh escaped his lips, he really didn't think that his old clothes were bad. Whoever said that purple was a good color anyway? It was a depressing color compared to his orange. Or course, he would never say these things to Ino since she was way too scary when mad.

A small shop caught the Chunin's eyes. It was located in the corner of the street he was currently on. It had a white sign on one of the windows, it read, "Ultimate Ninja Gear Store!" Naruto noticed that not many people entered the store, in fact they tried to avoid it. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to take a look, the blond approached the store.

When Naruto entered the shop he was instantly welcomed by a cool air hitting against his skin, he closed his eyes and welcomed the cool air on his body. "This hits the spot…" he muttered with a dreamy look on his face.

A chuckle echoed through the empty store, making the Chunin snap his head towards the source. "My, my. We don't get a lot of foreigners around here," a middle-aged man chuckled with a kind smile on his face. He sat behind a desk, that Naruto assumed was where people paid. The man had short brown hair, a bushy brown mustache and reading glasses adorned his scarred face, "Where are you from, young one?"

"I'm from somewhere a lot less warm than here," Naruto replied as he walked over to the man, not trusting him enough to give an exact location.

The man nodded with a polite smile. "Don't worry, I understand you ninja types. Giving your village's name would be an unnecessary risk, right?" his light tone never faltered, "It's alright with me. Why don't you look around the shop? I don't get many costumers so make yourself at home."

Naruto nodded with his gaze around the store. "How come you don't get many costumers?" he asked, looking at the goods the man sold, "This stuff looks good."

"I guess it's because…" the man trailed off, an odd look on his eyes.

Naruto's eyes narrowed on the man, he was acting too suspicious. Call it paranoia but he felt like he couldn't really trust anyone on this mission, save for his team. Everything about this shop seemed weird, if the man didn't get any costumers then how was the place still running? Why was it that everyone avoided this store? Was he missing something?

The man suddenly reached under the desk, pulling out an all-familiar gas mask. The atmosphere in the shop turned cold, Naruto shifting into a ready stance in case he decided to do something. The man simply stood behind the desk before breaking into a smirk and muttering something.

Naruto's eyes widened.

* * *

Sasuke sat on a tree, watching some Sand ninja train. By the looks of things they were nowhere near his level, it looked like Konoha was really the most demanding when it came to ranks. He really had nowhere to go but didn't want to be near the fools on his team. There had been a time where he had actually developed a kind of friendship with them but now he was trying to get rid of it. Friendship wouldn't help him be strong enough to kill Itachi. If he was to kill the person he had admired when he was young then he would need to be as cold-hearted as possible.

Severing ties with his 'friends' would be his first step on the road to kill Itachi, he would avenge his clan in order to redeem his family name and show that the Uchiha were the strongest clan in the world. Now he was on a mission where they actually got to kill, meaning that he would be able to show his strength.

He watched the ninja with a smirk on his face, he really couldn't believe how inferior they were. His attention turned to two ninja wearing Chunin vests, by the looks on their faces they were discussing something serious. They communicated through whispers that Sasuke wasn't able to hear. The Uchiha activated his sharingan, focusing on the ninja's lip movements.

"Did you hear what the council did?" Sasuke made out from one of the ninja.

"Yeah," the other responded, "I can't believe it myself. Doing such a thing would start conflict with Konoha." Sasuke watched the other ninja nod with a solemn look on his face.

"Hiring a mercenary to kill the Konoha team is too low for words."

Sasuke's eyes widened as he deactivated his sharingan. The council was planning on killing them. Having heard enough, the Uchiha jumped away from the branch and set off towards the Kazekage's office. He had no idea what he was going to do but telling his team was out of the question. If his team heard about it then they would get to kill the mercenary, something he wished to do himself. But if he didn't tell them then he would be the only one on lookout and would get to kill the mercenary before anyone else.

Sasuke smirked. _'This mission isn't too bad after all,' _he thought in excitement as he jumped through the roofs of the Sand village, not really caring if he caused some kind of commotion. He was an Uchiha and he was about to show how ruthless he could be.

* * *

Naruto facefaulted, not believing what the man had said. It was really no wonder why he didn't have any costumers and why he gave off a creepy vibe. The blond Chunin had been ready for anything. Even for a second he thought that the man was Red Death and they would start fighting in the middle of the village, but no. The man just had to say the weirdest thing.

"_I sell masks of Red Death because he's so dreamy! I managed to see him take down some ninja and caught a glimpse of the mask. He was so dreamy!'_

The 'man' whined. "Please don't leave young one," he pleaded with a hurt look on his face, "I promise I'll give you a discount for anything you buy here."

Naruto instantly smirked, he saw buying clothes as a waste of money but if they were cheaper than usual then he was in. "Okay then, I'm looking for some new clothes," he began, pointing at his current attire, "These clothes are way too warm for a desert, do you have anything that won't be too warm."

"Yes we do," the man said with a smile, pointing at the back of the store. Many shelves were filled with clothes of all kinds, "All the clothes in that section are made of a light, yet, strong material. I guarantee that the desert heat won't bother you much with them."

"Alright," Naruto nodded as he moved to see the clothes, large part of him wishing to get out of there as fast as possible.

* * *

The sun was setting on the Sand village giving it an orange glow. Shikamaru leaned against the outside wall of the Kazekage's office building with his arms crossed. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be exhausted. He had been talking with the council for about two hours and after some heavy negotiation he was able to make them give his team some backup.

The council had been hesitant since they didn't want to weaken their defenses. Shikamaru had argued that Red Death was lowering their numbers and was an immediate threat to their village. If one man was able to kill so many Sand ninja then a ninja village would be able to annihilate it, at least that's what Shikamaru thought. He found that the council was mostly made up of high powered civilians with no clue of how things worked on the ninja world. After some time they had finally agreed, saying that Konoha would owe them for it.

He hadn't been able to get shinobi above Chunin level but he had guessed that already. The council had told him that they would look for available Genin and have them meet outside the Kazekage's office building. So far, he hadn't seen any sign of Sand ninja coming his way though it had been about an hour since he had spoken to the council.

Earlier he had seen Sasuke but the Uchiha didn't appear to want to talk. He had left after seeing that the lazy Chunin wasn't moving, not saying where he went. There had been no sign of Naruto or Gaara yet, making him sigh. He was sure that wherever they were was a lot better than where he was.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Shikamaru turned to his left and saw Naruto walking towards him with an irritated look on his face. The blond Chunin was wearing different clothes that appeared more appropriate for the desert weather. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt with red stripes running along his arms and shoulders, light brown ANBU pants with a kunai holster on his right thigh and his old black shinobi sandals and headband.

"Finally," Naruto sighed out with a tired expression on his face. Shikamaru threw him an odd look, having no idea what had him so worked up, "I've been walking around the village for hours, looking for the way here."

Shikamaru couldn't help but let out a chuckle, making Naruto glare at him. "I see you decided on a new wardrobe," he pointed out in a casual tone, "How come you didn't buy anything orange? I thought you like that color."

"I do," Naruto said through tears. Shikamaru sweat dropped at his friend's antics, "But if I do buy something orange then Ino would kill me for sure."

"Women," Shikamaru sighed out with a smirk on his face, "Possibly the greatest bother out there."

"What did you just say?" came a loud irritated voice.

Temari of the Sand stomped towards Shikamaru with an angry look on her face, making Shikamaru sigh even louder. Behind her, Kankuro stood with his usual attire on and a puppet strapped to his back.

"Looks like we're all here," came Gaara's monotone voice from where he stood, on a building's roof. He jumped down to where the shinobi were, not noticing Shikamaru's right eye twitch.

"It took you guys long enough," Sasuke scolded as he walked over to the ninja with his hands in his pockets.

"Okay, before we begin," Shikamaru started before turning to Gaara and Sasuke with an accusing glare, "How long have you two been here?"

"A few minutes," Sasuke answered nonchalantly while Gaara simply stared at Shikamaru.

"A few minutes," Shikamaru repeated with a frown on his face, "I've been standing here for over an hour like an idiot. You guys get here and ten seconds later our backup team arrives. What a pain in the ass, bad luck must love to piss me off."

Naruto chuckled before turning to the Sand siblings. "You guys are the team that's supposed to back us up, right?" he asked to clarify things. Receiving a nod from the two he continued, "That's good since we already kind of know each other even though it wasn't on the best terms."

"Right, this way we know of each others abilities," Kankuro admitted with a nod.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" Temari asked the question everyone was thinking.

Even though he was a Chunin, Naruto didn't know what to do next. He knew what the goal at the moment was, get to the village Red Death was guarding. It was a large group so he didn't think that they would be able to go unnoticed. Throwing a glance at Shikamaru, he noticed that the lazy Chunin didn't seem to know what to do either.

"I suppose we should rest for now," Naruto suggested with a tired look on his face, "Since we ran into Red Death earlier, we need some rest."

Temari's and Kankuro's eyes widened, having no idea that they had actually engaged Red Death in combat. "You actually fought him? None of our shinobi could get away from him alive," the Sand kunoichi exclaimed in disbelief.

Sasuke smirked. "Why so surprised?" he taunted with an amused expression, "It's obvious that we would do better than the ninja here."

The two Sand siblings frowned at the comment. "He's not serious," Naruto said in a light tone, trying to bring the tension down. The two Sand ninja narrowed their eyes on Sasuke, "R-right Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned his face to the side with a smirk on his face, his arms crossed on his chest as a sign that he wouldn't retract his words. The two Sand siblings gritted their teeth before Temari reached for her fan, she was going to show the brat how strong her village was.

Sand wrapped around Temari's wrists, stopping her from taking out her fan. "G-Gaara," she gasped out in shock before turning to her brother, "What are you doing?"

"Don't let him get to you," Gaara's voice remained cold as the sand began to leave Temari's wrists, "It would be unwise to fight with the team we'll be traveling with."

Temari huffed in annoyance before turning away from the Leaf shinobi. Kankuro remained with his eyes hardened on Sasuke, he remembered that the last time they met he hadn't been entirely like this but he supposed that he just didn't spend enough time around him.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered with a frown on his face, "We'll meet at the village's gate tomorrow morning at eight sharp. Get some rest because we won't get much tomorrow."

Sasuke chuckled and walked away from the team of shinobi, enjoying the looks the Sand siblings held. The three Sand ninja were next to leave, Gaara with an emotionless face while Temari and Kankuro had scowls on theirs. Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he turned to Shikamaru, who had a serious expression on his face.

"We have to watch Sasuke…" Shikamaru commented with his gaze on the retreating forms of the Sand siblings, "His attitude is starting to become a problem. Remember that this mission's prime objective is to strengthen the ties between the Leaf and Sand."

"I know," Naruto replied with a solemn look on his face, disappointed in his friend, "I didn't want to do this but looks like we'll have to tell him to stop directly. If he doesn't then we'll order him to stop."

Shikamaru nodded with a sigh. "This mission is already pretty lousy," he pointed out as he began to walk away from the Kazekage's office building, "We not only got beaten by our target, lost in the village, cooked by the desert but now we have to watch over Sasuke."

"Don't put it like that," Naruto whined with an annoyed look on his face, "I'm already having a shit day, you don't have to make it worse by pointing out our problems."

Shikamaru smirked. "You're right, we'll just deal with all of this tomorrow," a yawn escaped his mouth as he stretched his sore arms, "Any idea where we'll be staying?"

Naruto shrugged. "I figured we'd just get a hotel room," he admitted, "Since we don't have our headbands I'm sure that they won't mind us much."

"I guess," Shikamaru muttered with a yawn, "I just hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow, we need a break."

The two continued to walk behind Sasuke, the Uchiha having no idea where they were going. The two Chunin knew that they had a tough day ahead but for now they would enjoy their rest time.

* * *

A new day began back in Konoha. The sun peaked through the horizon, birds chirped as they flew around the village, people came out of their homes and shinobi began their daily routine. Things looked peaceful in the village but the training grounds were another story. Many shinobi trained to hone their skills, pushing their bodies to the limit.

Ino panted with trickles of sweat running down her face. Tsunade stood in front of her with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. The training ground they had been using was full of craters and large cracks on the ground, proof of Tsunade's monstrous strength.

Tsunade had met with Ino at the time designated. She had told her student that she spoke with Asuma and understood that her chakra reserves were a little low. To be a medic one needed to have near perfect chakra control but to be a good medic then she would need to have a larger chakra capacity.

Another thing about her new student was that she relied mostly on genjutsu and ninjutsu that left her exposed. The legendary medic would need to drill new jutsu and taijutsu styles to her student since no student of hers would be weak.

Deciding on fixing her weaknesses first, Tsunade had begun to spar with Ino, in reality the medic attacked while the younger kunoichi dodged for her life. Having the young kunoichi use most of her chakra in order for it to adapt to the usage and grow. Watching her student's worn out expression told her that she was on the right track. Her medic side kicking in, she decided that it was enough of their first exercise for the day. Having too much training could have a negative effect.

"That's enough for now," Tsunade announced, smirking as Ino instantly sat on the ground through heavy breathing, "Now we'll start the next training."

Ino froze, shock on her face as she stared at her new master. "W-what?" she muttered nervously, shifting a little on the ground, "I thought we were done for the day…"

Tsunade sighed, crossing her arms. It looked like Ino would need a little more commitment to her training. "We haven't even begun yet. Just because you've used up most of your chakra doesn't mean that you can't train your body," she scolded in the motherly tone she used for Naruto, making Ino pout, "Don't give me that look. Remember that in order to grow stronger you need to work hard, it's not something that happens overnight. You have to be really committed."

"I am," Ino shot back a little defensibly. The only reason she was doing this was to help Naruto in the future. She didn't want to see the blond Chunin use the fox's chakra ever again, it made him merciless and wild. Knowing that Naruto hated it too made her promise herself that she would do everything in her power so that he wouldn't have to use it anymore.

Gathering her thoughts and determination, Ino grinned in confidence. "I'll work extra hard from now on…" she began. Tsunade raised an eye-brow at the kunoichi, she had seen that same expression of confidence in another blond she knew, "Believe it."

* * *

The Leaf and Sand team walked through the desert, all wearing light brown cloaks over their clothing. They had set off early in the morning and were nearing the spot where they had last spotted Red Death. Engaging the ninja was out of the question since they didn't feel prepared, their objective today was to find out what he hid in the small village.

The group came to a halt, the small village visible in the distance. They stood on top of a small hill that overlooked the desert, having many rocks around it made it a good place to hide for the meantime. Shikamaru had yet to talk about the plan he had come up with, if he had any.

"So what now?" Kankuro voiced everyone's question in a casual tone.

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. "I have no idea," he deadpanned, making the group of shinobi face fault.

"What the hell Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed in annoyance, "I thought you said you would come up with something. Don't tell me we have to go all the way back to the village to come up with a plan."

"I'm with Uzumaki on this one," Temari growled in irritation, glaring at the lazy idiot that had been assigned to her team.

Shikamaru suppressed a groan, everyone was glaring at him. He didn't understand how it had been his fault, he had given no promises on coming up with a plan. Even the emotionless Gaara had a hind of annoyance on his eyes while Sasuke made his mood clear with a hardened glare.

"It's not that I didn't come up with anything," Shikamaru admitted with a frown on his face, "It's just that the only ways to get into that village would be to send just one person and we can't do that. Three of us couldn't handle Red Death, imagine what would happen if only one of us fought him."

Temari frowned. "I guess you're right," she agreed, her gaze on the open desert that surrounded the small village, "It would be impossible for a group of ninja to be unnoticed in an open place like this."

"Then I'll go," Naruto broke in, taking everyone by surprise. Shikamaru turned to the Chunin with a frown on his face, going alone would be suicide. Noticing their looks the blond waves his hands in front of him in an attempt to calm them down, "Hey it's not like I didn't learn anything from Jiraiya-sensei. He thought me a jutsu that will make me invisible, it would be perfect for an open place like this."

"What about your footprints?" Shikamaru argued, "You'll still leave tracks on the sand regardless."

Naruto waved a hand dismissively. "All I have to do is apply chakra to my feet as I walk. It will leave small footprints but I'll keep a steady stream of wind to cover them up," he noticed that Shikamaru was still unsure. The rest of the team looked hesitant to accept his plan, even Gaara had a hint of concern on his eyes, "You know that this is the only way. I'll be to the village and back in less than two hours. With my shadow clones I'll be able to gather information faster than anyone else, you know that this is our best and only option."

"Dammit," Shikamaru groaned, "Go but make sure to come back alive, Ino would kill me if something happened to you."

Naruto grinned as he nodded at his teammate. "Be sure to come back," Gaara voiced, his gaze on the distant village, "If you run into this Red Death, I'll be there as fast as I can."

"I'll help you out too," Temari assured. She was eternally grateful to Naruto, he had put her brother on the right path after all. The least she could do was watch his back.

"Kick some ass over there," Kankuro joked with a grin on his face.

Naruto nodded at his team, watching Sasuke throw him a small nod. He chuckled, the Uchiha was very tough to figure out. First he appeared pissed at him and the next minute he appeared to be friendly.

"I'll be back before two hours," Naruto said as he used two hand seals, turning invisible before everyone's eyes. Shikamaru noticed that he was still visible, though only barely, a tracker ninja would be able to spot him but he had been right when saying that it would be perfect for an open space like the desert.

Naruto ran through the desert, using chakra to keep his footprints to a minimum before having wind chakra push away the small trail he left. His sight focused on the village, watching the old buildings coming closer and closer. Whatever it was Red Death was hiding there he would find it no matter what, his teammates had given him their trust and he had to be successful at all costs.

* * *

The mercenary furrowed his brows when seeing Naruto disappear. He figured it was some kind of original jutsu since, as far as he knew, there had never been sighting of such technique. Things had been rather calm in the morning though there had been a major flaw in his initial plan. He had decided on killing the whole team but the addition of two more ninja hadn't been expected.

Killing the whole squad would look rather suspicious. He thought of killing the jinchuuriki and Konoha shinobi but dismissed the thought after seeing that they appeared to be close. The only way to do his job would be to separate the two Sand ninja from his targets. Accomplishing such a task wouldn't be easy.

Since he was a mercenary he only knew a few, though powerful, jutsu. It was rare in fact. Not many mercenaries could use jutsu and those who did would charge an incredible amount of money. Leaving his respective village at the age of ten, hadn't given him the time to learn any kind of jutsu. The jutsu he did know he had picked up from his travels around the world.

The best course of action would be to leave the ninja to Red Death. If he planned things right then he wouldn't have to worry about the other two ninja and could focus on the other brats. For now he would watch, like a predator watching its prey.

* * *

Naruto frowned as he walked through the small village. The buildings were made of old worn out wood, the windows appeared to be covered by household items, and there wasn't a hint of life. Not even animals were seen on this village. The only sound on the area coming from the wind hitting against the sand.

Creating a few clones, Naruto had them scout the area. The clones left without a word, knowing that they couldn't utter a single sound, leaving the Chunin alone. The blond continued to walk around town, finding no reason as to why Red Death appeared to protect the place. There was really nothing special about it but then again he hadn't really checked the place out much. It the clones didn't find anything then he would simply leave. Worrying his teammates wouldn't do any good.

Naruto's head snapped to the right, gaining the memories of a clone, before running in the same direction. He could see a building, much like the rest, except that this one was a lot larger. Spikes of rock penetrated the building's walls and its wooden doors were fully open.

He walked into the building, finding it to be safe enough. He found himself in a large room with windows covered by tables that had been nailed over them. The room was a little dark with light coming from the holes the spikes of earth had made. There was debris inside the building and a lot of dust covered the area, from the looks of things nobody had been on the place for a while.

"I know there's someone there," came a voice, making Naruto freeze on his steps.

'_Alright, maybe there is someone here,' _he admitted to himself as he looked around the room before seeing a man.

The man sat cross-legged on top of a large earth spike that stood before him. He had a white beard, short gray hair and worn out robes covered his body. The elder man had clearly lived a long time, his face wearing many wrinkles speaking of wisdom.

"It's alright, I'm glad to finally see someone after all this time," the old man said in a kind voice. Naruto found himself relaxing, his invisibility jutsu dropping, "Well, nice to meet you. I say, you're rather young to be on your own."

Naruto found himself grinning, the man spoke like a kind of grandfather. Something about the man relaxed him, as if he could really trust him. "It's alright, I'm a shinobi," he responded as he walked towards the man before settling near the large spike of earth, "What are you doing here all alone?"

"I was meditating," the old man confessed. Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a little embarrassed at disturbing the man. Seeing this the man chuckled lightly, "Do not worry young ninja, I'd rather speak to someone than meditate. My name is Ayumu, it is nice to meet you."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you," the old man's eyes widened slightly before he relaxed. The Chunin looked around the room, watching the earth spikes in puzzlement, "What happened here? I was looking around outside and there was no sign of anyone."

The man sighed and closed his eyes. "It's been like this for some time now…" he trailed off, "This village was never too populated, most of its inhabitants preferring to live on the Sand village. As time passed more and more people left this village in search of better lives. Soon I was the only person living here yet I can't leave even if I wanted to-"

"Red Death…" Naruto broke in with a frown on his face. Ayumu nodded slowly, a small smile on his face.

"I'm unable to leave since I hold something very important that Red Death doesn't want exposed. But don't let Red Death fool you, remember that pain can really change people," Ayumu explained in a wise voice. Naruto nodded slowly, agreeing with the old man, "A few decades ago there was a village…a village called the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools. Red Death was part of this village, having grown up with a family and friends Red Death was foreign to pain…"

"What happened then?" Naruto asked as Ayumu's expression changed to a sad one.

"It was during the Second Shinobi war that Red Death's village was destroyed," Ayumu informed. A gasp escaped Naruto's mouth, he hadn't really paid more attention during his academy days but the concept of a whole village being destroyed was too incredible to believe, "Family and friends died in front of the then Genin, Red Death. Now Red Death looks for revenge against the villages that had allied themselves to Whirlpool. Those villages include the Suna and Konoha."

Naruto nodded in understanding, finding that Red Death's reasons weren't really unjustified. "How do you know all of that?" he asked, growing a little suspicious, "Anyone who's ever faced Red Death has been killed so how do you know all of this?"

The man smiled sadly, a downcast expression on his old face, "I used to be Red Death's sensei. I'm the thing Red Death hides... his past."

* * *

Shikamaru frowned from his spot on the edge of the cliff. It had been a little over an hour since Naruto left and there was still no sign of him. Not even the small village on the distance had changed even in the slightest, it was times like this that he wished the Hokage had sent a Hyuuga on this mission. Having one would have certainly made things easier on the mission but then again their attitudes ruined their good skill.

Sasuke suddenly chuckled with his arms crossed. Shikamaru gave him an odd look before turning back to the desert only to see the blond Chunin walking towards them, his jutsu inactive.

"Get ready everyone," Shikamaru began. He had no idea as to why Naruto had stopped using his jutsu but it was sure to get Red Death's attention. Sasuke and the three Sand siblings stood behind him, ready to spring into action. Sand suddenly picked up around Naruto, blocking him from view.

"Let's go everyone!" Shikamaru ordered as he dashed to where Naruto was, the rest of his team behind him. Round two against Red Death was about to begin.

**Ch. 26 End**

**That will be all for now guys. This chapter was longer than what I usually write. Some chapters might be this lengthy so, be happy! I know I said that this chapter would have more fights than the last but I kind of got it wrong. Next chapter will have more fights, I promise. ****I know that Red Death's past is pretty vague but remember that your not getting the full story, there's more than one take on Red Death's past. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	27. Captured

**New chapter today. Thanks to all of those that took the time to review and of course to the ones that added this story to their favorites and alerts. All questions will be answered on this chapter, if you didn't get your question answered then feel free to tell me. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 27 Captured**

Naruto walked through the desert, his pace a lot slower than usual. With the information Red Death's sensei had given him, he felt like he understood the intentions behind the attacks. Understanding Red Death didn't mean that he was alright with what the ninja was doing, in fact he still planned on taking his target down. Though he planned on stopping Red Death he still wanted to speak with the ninja, he wanted to hear his side since he had only listened to the old man's.

He gritted his teeth. There was no way for him to speak to Red Death without trouble, it was certain that they would have to fight. He planned on taking the ninja hostage and talking about what had happened between the villages but that was a rather dumb plan. For some reason he wanted to know what had happened, he was intrigued. The idea of Konoha turning its back on an ally seemed foreign to him but things worked different back then, the world was at crisis.

Naruto looked at the sand around him, not bothering to use his invisibility jutsu. He needed to speak to Red Death, he had to know what happened to Whirlpool. Fighting Red Death was his only option, he just hoped that his friends wouldn't get involved. Hopefully the shadow clone he had sent earlier had already informed them of his plans.

Sand began to swirl around the Chunin, picking up speed each second. Pouring chakra onto the seal on his right glove, his blade appeared before he infused it with wind chakra. The sand swirled violently, blocking his view, the silhouette of a person behind it. A flash of red filled Naruto's vision, the Chunin immediately ducked as Red Death's scythe pierced the air above him.

Naruto jumped away, eyes focused on the area around him. It was hard to see but the red scythe gave Red Death away, he would need to keep a constant look on the enemy ninja and avoid staying still for even a second. He ran through hand signs, eyes following the red glow emitting from the scythe.

"Wind Style: Wind Wave!" A slicing wind shot at the silhouette. The wind passed through the shadow, impacting the earth and kicking up more sand. Naruto cursed and focused his eyes, gritting his teeth when he saw no sign of his opponent.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" Wind shot out of Naruto's mouth, pushing away the sand swirling around him. Almost instantly, Red Death appeared before him with the scythe ready to strike.

Naruto parried the attack with his own blade, leaving Red Death open. Wind gathered around the Chunin's hand, creating a large orb of compressed wind, "Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" The attack struck the ninja's stomach with a loud cracking noise, Red Death was blown away before bursting in a cloud of smoke, "A clone?"

"Correct," Red Death's voice answered from behind him. The Chunin quickly spun, swiping at the ninja with his blade. "Foolish," the ninja sighed out. The wind chakra-infused blade was blocked by the scythe.

"W-what?" Naruto's eyes widened as the scythe sucked the wind chakra out of his blade. Red Death's eyes lit with amusement before delivering a hard kick to the Chunin's chest.

Naruto felt something crack from the kick and fell on the ground, clutching his chest in pain. A cough escaped his mouth as he tried to regain his breath but was forced to roll away when he noticed the scythe coming down on him. The Chunin quickly stood up and jumped away from his opponent, panting from the blow to his chest.

"It surprised me to see you back here," Red Death said with a hint of amusement. Taking the scythe from the ground, the ninja approached the Chunin, "I see some promise on your skill, it's a shame that it will go to waste."

Naruto managed to grin through his pained expression. Red Death looked puzzled before a pair of hands emerged out of the sand and gripped his two feet. The Chunin ran at the ninja as he went through hand signs.

Red Death growled and swung his scythe at the bothersome brat. Naruto frowned and pointed his left hand at the scythe. "Wind Style: Gale Palm," he muttered as a powerful stream of air emerged from his hand, knocking the scythe out of his opponent's hands. Using his right hand Naruto gathered chakra, molding it into a blue orb.

"Rasengan!" Naruto roared as his attack made contact with Red Death's stomach. The Chunin frowned when he didn't feel his attack dig into his opponent, in fact he was rarely feeling the chakra on his hand. Looking down his eye's widened, seeing a seal on Red Death's stomach, absorbing every last bit of the chakra on his jutsu.

The ninja's eyes narrowed as he pointed his hand at Naruto's chest. A blast of yellow chakra struck the blond on the chest with such ferocity that he spat out a large amount of blood before falling on the ground with a thud. Red Death approached the fallen blond, his right hand sporting a seal.

Naruto gritted his teeth in pain, his chest throbbing in almost agonizing pain and his throat burning from the strain, there was no doubt that there was internal damage. The top of his shirt had been burnt off by the blast, showing the gash on his chest. He sat up, looking at the approaching ninja with a glare. He didn't understand just how Red Death was able to counter everything he had, he now knew that Red Death was way beyond Chunin level, things didn't look good.

"It's kind of pathetic," Red Death muttered, his eyes burning into Naruto's. "I was able to take you down without using the smallest amount of my chakra. All it took was a few seals."

The Chunin narrowed his eyes on the seals. There was one on his now exposed stomach and another on his right hand. By what he had experienced he guessed that the seal on the stomach absorbed chakra while the one on his right hand released it. He didn't know if he had more seals but it was safe to assume he did, he would need to go all out if he was to beat the ninja.

"I'm still not finished…" Naruto growled as he began to stand, Red Death's eyes widening in surprise. The blond's gaze was on the ground, hair covering his eyes from view.

"What is this?" Red Death wondered as Naruto's wounds began to heal, the gash on his chest healing in a matter of seconds.

"I won't lose!" Naruto exclaimed, his blue slit eyes glaring at Red Death. Malevolent red and blue chakra flared around him, his hair growing spikier. His whiskers darkened and two fangs peeked out of his lips.

Red Death's eyes held a look of wonder. The blond was a strange one, he had been able to stand after being struck by such an attack and was now ready to fight once more, nevertheless he was still too weak. "Let's see what you've got," Red Death muttered, picking up his scythe and spinning it on his right hand.

* * *

Shikamaru and his team of shinobi ran through the desert. They could see a battle up ahead and wanted to get there before it was too late, he knew for a fact that Naruto wouldn't stand a chance against Red Death. Seeing someone approaching he raised a brow, the person looked exactly like Naruto. The Chunin frowned, thinking the worst, if Naruto was fighting then this had to be someone henged like him.

"Hey guys!" Naruto called, waving his arm madly.

The group stopped, looking at Naruto suspiciously. "You're not Naruto," Gaara accused, sand coming out of his gourd. The rest of the shinobi followed his lead and shifted into a ready stance, wanting to take out the imposter.

"Calm down guys!" Naruto exclaimed in alarm, waving his hands in front of him, "I'm just a clone! Honest!"

Shikamaru sighed, knowing of the blond's tendency to send clones for almost anything. "Why did he send you?" he asked, his eyes shifting to the battle in the distance, "Make it quick."

"The boss told me to tell you that he doesn't want you involved on the fight," the clone informed.

"What?" Shikamaru asked in slight alarm.

Sasuke growled, his fists clenching. "That idiot just wants to take all the credit again," he turned back to the fight, "I won't allow it." The Uchiha ran ahead, not caring about his teammates. He wouldn't be left out of a fight that would surely test his skills and make him stronger.

"I'm going on ahead as well," Gaara announced as he ran after Sasuke.

"W-wait," the clone tried to stop them but could only watch them leave, it looked like he had failed.

"We won't leave a friend to fend for himself," Shikamaru told the clone, a light smirk on his face, "As troublesome as it is, we won't let him face this alone."

The clone's eyes widened as Shikamaru left. It could only smile, they were real friends. The kind of friends that were irreplaceable and the ones he had wished for when he was a kid. Back then it was nothing but a fantasy, he never thought he would be able to get friends that would look out for him. "Sorry boss," the clone muttered with its arms crossed, the smile still lingering on its face, "I tried."

* * *

Blue and red chakra flared around Naruto as he ran at Red Death, his eyes glaring into the enemy. The ninja swung his scythe, creating a powerful stream of water that shot at the Chunin. The blond growled and swung his arm, blue chakra shooting off of it before clashing against the water with a large splash. The water was dispersed as Naruto continued to run at the enemy ninja, unfazed by Red Death's jutsu.

Red Death swung his scythe once more, only this time kicking up a gust of wind. The jinchuuriki frowned and stopped his run, the gust creating a small vortex that headed straight at him. He ran through hand signs and stuck his hands out, "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

Two powerful gusts of air shot off Naruto's hands, blowing away sand before crashing into Red Death's jutsu. The attacks collided in a flurry of wind before the jinchuuriki's two gusts broke through and headed for the wide-eyed Red Death.

Red Death jumped away from the attack and swung his scythe once more. The sand under Naruto's feet turned to mud. With a gasp the blond began to sink, trashing madly against the hold. "Farewell Konoha shinobi," he muttered as he swung his scythe, shooting a bolt of lightning at the paralyzed shinobi.

Naruto cried in pain, the electricity coursing through his body, before he broke into a smirk. Red Death's eyes widened when the 'Naruto' dispersed in a cloud of smoke. Catching movement to his left he quickly dropped to the ground, effectively dodging a swipe of his larger chakra infused blade. He rolled to his side before standing up, gritting his teeth in fury. Red Death grew tired of the fight, he would need to end it before it got out of hand. He jumped away from the Leaf ninja, putting distance between them, before he began to channel chakra on his scythe.

'_What's he doing?' _Naruto wondered as the man poured chakra onto his scythe, _'Whatever it is, I can't let him finish it.' _The jinchuuriki charged at the man but was suddenly hit by a wave of pain, his stomach feeling as if it was on fire. He doubled over, holding his stomach in pain, _'Dammit! I've used this form for too long, I have to end this before it's completely gone.'_

"This is it," Red Death announced, his eyes glimmering with amusement at Naruto's pained expression. He held up his scythe, the blade now a crimson red with small purple sparks chirping around it, "I'll show you one of my original attacks."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he gathered his chakra, ignoring the agonizing pain on his stomach. Extending his right hand he started to make a Rasengan with all of his remaining chakra. The usual spinning blue ball appeared on his hand before being enveloped by the Kyuubi's red chakra, making it larger and giving it a deep purple color. The Rasengan shook violently on his hand, power radiating from it with a light whistling sound.

The two glared at each other before breaking into a run, their attacks coursing with power. Naruto's hand wavered under the strain but refused to back down, his eyes locked on Red Death, this was his target and he would win. The blade of Red Death's scythe cracked under the power flowing through it but he couldn't care less, he would start his revenge with this Konoha shinobi.

"Rasengan!"

"Gouraiken!"

The two attacks met in a powerful collision. Sand was violently blown away by the collision, powerful winds filled the area and a small cater was formed from the two forces pushing against each other.

Shikamaru and his team arrived to this scene. The Chunin of the team looked at the attacks in shock, he didn't know that Naruto knew a jutsu that powerful. Looking at the shinobi next to him he knew that none of them had seen the jutsu either.

Sasuke growled, the power behind Naruto's jutsu, he needed that power to kill his brother. A jutsu with such power should belong to him, he was the one that trained day and night to, one day, kill his brother. The dead last didn't deserve such power.

Gaara watched the collision with a small frown on his face. From what he saw, Naruto's jutsu wasn't doing much damage to Red Death's blade. He had an eye for such things but had been proven wrong on rare occasions, he hoped this was such occasion.

Kankuro and Temari watched the collision in awe. Kankuro hadn't known that Naruto was that strong. By the level of power behind the jutsu he knew that he wouldn't be able to counter such attacks. He would need to train harder from now own, though that meant that he would spend less time cleaning his puppets.

Temari found herself worried about the blond Chunin. Like Gaara, she could tell that Naruto's attack was inferior, not due to power but because the scythe appeared to be absorbing the jutsu's chakra. From the looks of things he wouldn't hold off much longer.

Naruto snarled, feeling chakra leaving his Rasengan. He was pouring every last bit of chakra onto his attack but the scythe was still absorbing all of it, he didn't remember seeing a seal on it before but it was now completely visible. Another wave of pain suddenly struck the jinchuuriki, this time making him spit out blood. His Rasengan became smaller and Red Death's scythe began to break through it.

Red Death chuckled, it looked like the Konoha ninja was finished. He had to admit that he had skill for a kid but the world was a cruel place. Many ninja with skill died daily because of events like this and, to be honest, he didn't mind killing him at all. He put more chakra onto his attack, pushing back the Rasengan.

Temari's eyes widened. Naruto was about to be overwhelmed by Red Death's jutsu, there was no way he was going to come out alive. "We have to help him," she announced. The group of ninja already a step ahead of her, running towards the two, "Hang on Uzumaki!"

Red Death's eyes widened, a gasp escaping his lips. He watched the blond in shock, he had seemed a little familiar when he first saw him but he dismissed it as coincidence. The ninja watched as blood came out of the jinchuuriki's mouth, his attack about to break through and end his life, the life of one of the last Uzumaki.

Shadows attached to Red Death's own before his arms started to move involuntarily. "Shadow Possession success," Shikamaru smirked as he stretched his arms to the side, in turn making Red Death do the same.

The collision of the attacks stopped, leaving only Naruto's Rasengan. The jinchuuriki's attack approached the ninja, Red Death's eyes widening in alarm. Only a handful of chakra could enter his seals and they were at their limit, he would need to release the chakra but he didn't have the time to do so. The Rasengan came closer and closer before it suddenly dispersed completely. All eyes turned to the form of Naruto, eyes rolling to the back of his head and falling unconscious.

Sand instantly wrapped around Naruto before moving him safely behind Gaara. His sand creating a wall in front of the blond, protecting him from any sort of impending attack as his cold gaze fell on Red Death, a quiet fury on his eyes. His two siblings landed on his side, Temari with her fan and Kankuro with his puppets.

Red Death growled, he really didn't have time to put up with little kids. A red light filled his vision, turning to his right he snarled when he noticed a large fireball heading towards him. He began to struggle against the hold, making Shikamaru wince at the level of strength. After much struggling he finally managed to move enough to raise his right hand, pointing it at the fireball.

Sasuke smirked from his spot on the desert, watching his attack grow closer to Red Death. If the attack didn't finish off the ninja then nothing would. He turned to see the fallen Naruto protected by a wall of sand. His smirk grew, the blond had been too weak to finish off Red Death which meant that he was still stronger than the blond.

As the fireball grew closer to Red Death he suddenly chuckled. Chakra gathered around his right hand before it fired off in a powerful yellow blast that easily broke through the fireball, heading towards Sasuke at an incredible speed. The Uchiha gasped as the attack grew closer, taken completely off-guard.

A shot of sand hit Sasuke on the side, pushing him out of the blast's way. The attack exploded against the sand, creating a huge cloud of dust that covered everyone's vision. Shikamaru was taken back by the explosion, dropping his hold for a second before he felt his jutsu give out. He quickly tried to look for Red Death but there was too much sand to even see his own hand.

The sand cleared after a few minutes, taking with it any sign of Red Death and Naruto.

* * *

Naruto groaned, feeling the strain his body had gone through. His chest ached horribly, his head throbbed in pain and his stomach still hurt terribly. The Chunin opened his eyes slowly, groaning at the light on his eyes. He had no idea where he was, he only remembered fighting Red Death and then his mind went blank.

"I see you're awake," Red Death's voiced echoed around him.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, ignoring the sting on his eyes, in front of him sat Red Death with his arms crossed. The Chunin instantly took in his surroundings, he was in a light brown room with many windows with clear views of the desert, the room was mostly empty with only a kind of throne near a wall. From his angle, Naruto couldn't see anything else but guessed that there would be a hallway or door behind him.

"We have much to talk about…" Red Death began with a hint of amusement on his voice, "You're ally called you Uzumaki, correct?"

Naruto glared at Red Death. "Where am I?" he snapped with a hardened glare. He tried to move his hands but found that they were tied together behind the chair where he sat. It wasn't until now that he realized his lack of shirt and a series of small seals running from his shoulders to his stomach.

"Answer my question," Red Death said with a hint of desperation.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," his eyes narrowed on the ninja, "Now tell me where I am."

Red Death chuckled, his eyes showing a bit of excitement to Naruto's confusion. "I suppose it's fair," the ninja sighed out, "You're at my hideout. I took you here after you fell unconscious. Some of your wounds have been treated since I didn't know if I could trust you yet."

"Trust me?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Of course," Red Said in an easy-going voice, reaching for his gas mask. The ninja took it off before doing the same with the hood of his cloak, revealing crimson red hair and a cocky smile, "We're family after all."

* * *

Shikamaru punched the sand with a yell of anger, just how had Naruto been taken? He was a Chunin and he couldn't even stop an enemy ninja from taking his comrade. He had known that he wasn't really ready to be a Chunin since day one but still gave it a try, looking back he knew that it was a childish thought.

"I'll search for him," Gaara muttered as he began to walk away from the group.

"Wait Gaara," Temari called in alarm, "We can't just separate, it's too dangerous to split up."

Gaara continued to walk, his arms crossed and his gaze on the path ahead. "I won't let him die," he stated, "I'll find him soon."

Temari frowned, "But you can't d-"

"Sounds like a plan," Shikamaru interrupted, going into his strategist mode, "I've got a plan. Gaara, you go with Sasuke and Kankuro to look for any sign of Naruto while Temari and I set up a trap."

"What kind of trap?" Kankuro wondered out loud.

Shikamaru eyes held a silent determination, he wasn't going to let anyone die. "The don't-worry-about-a-thing kind of trap," he nodded at his team, a little shame on his eyes, "I know that I haven't been the best leader but I'll make up for it now. We'll get Naruto back and finish Red Death once and for all."

* * *

Ino sat against a tree with a weary expression, a book held on her hands. It was a few hours past noon and her whole body ached from her earlier training. Tsunade hadn't been kidding when saying that the training would be tough, she had never pushed herself so much before. After using most of her chakra against Tsunade, she had been shown some taijutsu stances. Only given a few minutes to get the basics down before the legendary medic began her spar with the younger kunoichi.

A yawn escaped her lips, it had been a long day and it wasn't even over yet. Tsunade had left a few minutes prior but not before giving her a book on the basics of medical jutsu. The first few chapters held information about the human body and how it worked. She hadn't gotten really far so the rest of the book remained a mystery to her but she still found it a little interesting.

Tsunade had said that she would be back a little later, much to Ino's misfortune, with more training plans. So far they had focused on chakra control and capacity, taijutsu and now the basics of medical jutsu. Next on the list was close range jutsu. The legendary medic was known for specializing in close combat, meaning that her students would do the same.

Part of Ino focused on her training while the other couldn't help but wonder if Naruto was safe. She hadn't heard any details about his mission, only that he would be going to Suna. She trusted him and knew that he could take care of himself but she was still worried. He had gone to a foreign village that wasn't too trustworthy, if they decided to attack then he wouldn't have a chance against them.

'_No, bad thoughts!' _she berated herself as she shook her head, it wouldn't do any good to think negative thoughts. She turned back to her book, trying to keep from having such thoughts. She knew that Naruto would be okay, he always was, and worrying about him wouldn't do any good.

'_Then why am I still so worried?' _she wondered with worry on her eyes. She focused on her book but found that it wasn't as interesting as before.

* * *

"Family?" Naruto gasped out. His eyes were wide in shock and complete disbelief flooded his mind, he knew for a fact that he had no family, if he did then he would've met them long ago or at least heard of them.

Red Death smiled, pulling off the cloak to reveal a set of seals over a simple long-sleeved brown shirt and black shinobi pants. "I take it they kept your heritage from you?" the ninja asked with a small frown, "It's to be expected if you were really raised in Konoha. They probably wanted to keep you from reaching your true potential. I brought you here in order to tell you what they did to our clan, no, our village and family."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "They would never do anything like that!" he argued, "You're an idiot it you think that I'll listen to anything you have to say against my village!"

"My words only hold truth," Red Death sighed out with a hint of disappointment.

Naruto scoffed with a smirk. "There's no reason for me to trust you, is there?" he flared his chakra in an attempt to break free but the seal running across his upper body absorbed it easily.

"Very well, I'll give you a reason to trust me Naruto," Red Death stood in front of Naruto, putting a hand to one of the seals on the brown shirt. Pouring chakra onto it, the ninja's body became enveloped in a cloud of smoke that kept the blond Chunin from seeing anything. The smoke began to clear revealing that the ninja's height had decreased.

"W-what?" Naruto gasped out, a blush creeping into his cheeks. In front of him no longer stood an intimidating man, in his place was a woman with long crimson hair that reached her mid-back, light skin and calm blue eyes. The most prominent change was the clothes, or lack thereof.

"My name is Mayu Uzumaki," the ninja introduced with a small smile, her hands on her hips, "I was under a powerful seal that henged my whole body. This seal makes it so that my real identity remains a total mystery and there's no risk of someone breaking the henge since they would need to take off the seal. I did this to show that I have nothing to hid."

Naruto closed his eyes shot, his face burning in embarrassment. "Fine! Fine! I'll listen to what you have to say!" he exclaimed, trying to forget what he had just seen, "Just please put some clothes on!"

"Fine," she sighed in annoyance, she had forgotten how kids his age were, ninja or not. She put a hand on her left wrist, pouring chakra onto it to reveal a seal. With a small cloud of smoke clothes covered her body. Mayu wore a black long-sleeved shirt and black baggy shinobi pants, a Whirlpool forehead protector worn proudly on her forehead, "There, I'm dressed now."

Naruto took a quick glance, only to sigh in relief. "Good," he muttered before putting on his serious face, knowing that he had already agreed to listen to the ninja, "What did you want to tell me?"

Mayu's face grew serious, anger and sadness on her eyes, "I'm going to tell you about the destruction of our village."

**Ch. 27 End**

**That's the chapter guys. As you can see some of the questions have and will be answered on this and the next chapter. Also, I hope you got the little reference at the last scene. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	28. Whirlpool's Destruction

**Here's the next chapter guys. I would like to thank all of those who took the time to review and, of course, those of you who added this story to their favorites and alerts. All the questions that were left on the last chapter will be answered on this chapter. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 28 Whirlpool's Destruction**

Naruto stared at Mayu with a serious expression on his face. He had always been a curious person and always wanted to know what was going on or if there were any secrets of almost anything, this had annoyed the village back when he was young since he wouldn't leave his victim alone until they spilled their guts. He had stopped pestering people as time passed but his curiosity still remained, though it had lowered to a healthy curiosity.

When Mayu had begun to make her accusations, Naruto knew to shut up since he knew that whatever she was about to say was important, and the fact that he didn't really have another choice since he was tied to a chair with his chakra sealed. He watched as Mayu walked back to her throne-like chair, slumping into it with a sigh. Exhaustion could be seen in her eyes, proof that she had been through a lot in her days, and her seating position showed that she was simply tired, of what, he did not know.

"Where to begin?" Mayu wondered out loud. She ran a hand through her hair, with her eyes settling on the vast desert. Naruto noted the look of sadness that washed over her face as her eyes wondered the dunes of the desert. The kunoichi suddenly snapped her gaze at the blond, getting his attention, before she sighed once more.

"Are you going to tell me anything, or are you just going to sigh all day?" Naruto asked, a little irked at Mayu's attitude. Her lax nature reminded him somewhat of Shikamaru, which wasn't really a good thing.

Mayu scoffed before shifting on her seat, her gaze on Naruto. "I guess I should begin with the village's history," she crossed her arms and sighed once more, Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance, "Whirlpool was always a peaceful village, we didn't seek out trouble and avoided confrontation with any village. Conflict, however, was unavoidable. Whirlpool was home to many seal masters, every single ninja knew the basics of sealing, this mixed with our large chakra capacities caught the attention of other villages."

Mayu stood from her seat and walked over to one of the large windows on the room, looking longingly at the sky. "Because of our talent other villages viewed us as threats and attempted to attack us several times. All of those attacks were easily countered by our ninja, but tension between our village and others began to rise. We still remained peaceful and things looked peaceful, until…" she trailed off, her eyes filled with sadness and regret. Naruto simply kept listening, knowing that it wasn't a good time to intrude, "The Third World Shinobi War began. At the time Konoha was in trouble, their rations were low and many of their forces were dying on the field. They requested the aid of Whirlpool. After much negotiation Whirlpool finally agreed to help out Konoha and became involved in the war. We gave supplies to the Leaf and sent some of our shinobi to help out in battles. At the time I was young, a fresh Genin, and was told by my master that ninja nations should help each other out. I was against the idea but nobody really listened to me."

Naruto watched as Mayu's expression grew sour, her eyes reflecting the resentment she held. The kunoichi turned to the Chunin and frowned. "Since we aided Konoha, other villages saw the opportunity to attack us. At first they were no trouble but when they attacked us at the same time, Whirlpool stood no chance. We were forced to seek help but our 'ally' villages refused to help. Suna was the first to deny us help and we soon ran out of options. In the end we asked, no, begged! We begged Konoha for help, the same help we gave them. And what did they say?" her eyes filled with unshed tears, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, "They said no! Just like that they denied us help! The only reason we were attacked was because of them and then they just abandon us as if we never helped them! I watched family, friends, teachers, I watched them all day when I was just a Genin. Innocent people were slaughtered before my eyes just because Konoha refused to help! That's why I seek revenge against them, I'll destroy the damned villages that abandoned us."

The room fell into silence, Naruto's blue eyes followed Mayu as she walked towards him. He understood why she sought revenge, if he was honest, he would probably have done the same thing in the past. She was right at being angry with Konoha, in fact he couldn't believe what they had done. For the first time on his life, he saw Konoha as unfair and flawed.

"I want you to join me," Mayu's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts, eyes widening at the request. She stood in front of the Chunin with a tired look on her face, "Avenging Whirlpool will be hard by myself and I'll need all the help I can get, I don't care where I get it. You're an Uzumaki like myself, do what's right and avenge your people."

Naruto's eyes narrowed on the kunoichi. "No," he responded with a frown, taking Mayu by surprise. A growl escaped his lips and he glared at the Whirlpool survivor, "I don't approve of what the Hidden Leaf did but it's the home of my friends and as long as they are Konoha shinobi then I will always side with the village. I swore to protect those important to me, attacking Konoha would be betraying my friends and I will never do that!"

"I see you're being stubborn," Mayu snarled, walking past Naruto's chair. She was out of view but her footsteps echoed throughout the room, "You will see things my way soon enough."

The Chunin heard the sound of her footsteps die down and sighed, he had to find a way out. He had to stop her before she took more lives. He knew that he didn't stand a chance against her but with his team at his side, then they stood a chance though it was small. Mayu, or Red Death, was far above Genin or Chunin level. If they wanted to win then they would need to know how Mayu fought, using seals.

Naruto suddenly smirked, noticing his ninja sandals were still on. _'Looks like I'll be out of here sooner than I thought,' _he quickly kicked his sandals off, keeping an ear out for any sign of Mayu, _'I'll have to be quick about this.' _

* * *

Back in Suna one of the councilwomen stood on the rooftop of the Kazekage's office building. She looked at the village with a tired look on her face, she always valued the village and did everything on her power to ensure that it gained prosperity. Knowing what the council was doing made her feel powerless, she couldn't do anything against their decisions. It was stupid to betray Konoha a second time since they would investigate the death of their ninja. Starting conflict would only result in lost lives and the eventual destruction of the village.

A smirk formed on her face, she was no usual elder and she would show it. She was Chiyo, a shinobi that had seen many things on her day. She knew that it was easy for ninja to know when someone had been targeted and killed, she would do what was necessary to stop the council. The council didn't have any knowledge of how the ninja world worked and how to improve a Hidden Village, she would need to kick those people out of there and appoint those that had such knowledge.

The first step would be to gather those that are knowledgeable on the ninja world, those that had first-hand experience and knew to spot trouble right away. Then they would need to gather supporters and finally appoint a new Kazekage. This wouldn't happen overnight, in fact she guessed that it would take a minimum of two years before they would finally rid themselves of the old council. Chiyo was a patient person, getting rid of the council would take time but she knew that it would eventually happen. She only hoped that the Konoha ninja didn't get killed on their mission, for that would only put her plans on jeopardy.

* * *

Naruto held a small blade on his mouth, his ninja sandals near his feet. The Chunin always kept a small blade on his sandals if he was ever captured on a mission, he had never had any use of it until now. With the blade on his mouth he looked down at the seal running across his torso. It was a standard chakra suppression seal with no real complexity, it seemed Mayu had taken it easy with the sealing.

The Chunin's eyes focused on the seal before glimmering with glee, he had found the main seal. On his training with Jiraiya, the sage had taught him the basics of sealing. Chakra suppression seals were one of the basics forms of sealing due to how straight forward they were. The seals were composed of many smaller type of seals with one being the strongest. If one was to take off the strongest seal then the whole thing would easily break with a little force.

Naruto used the blade to cut on area right below his heart, grimacing as he did so. A small trail of blood ran down his torso as he disrupted the main seal. He gritted his teeth as he continued to cut part of his flesh, wondering when the seal would weaken. There was a sudden pull on his body before he felt a small portion of his chakra return. The Chunin dropped the blade and tapped into his chakra, growling at the burning feeling of the seal against his flesh, by the looks of things Mayu had used one of the burning chakra suppression seals Jiraiya had been talking about. This seals would burn hotter and hotter each time the person tried to use chakra.

'_Come on!' _Naruto gritted his teeth as blue chakra flared around him, the seal burning hotter on his flesh. The mark markings around his torso began to waver and shrink in size. With one final struggle the seal finally came off, leaving the Chunin panting on the chair.

Naruto chuckled as he rested against the chair, he had managed to take off the seal. He looked down at his torso to see it colored a burning red, no doubt the seal's work. He knew that it would eventually heal, as always and focused on the ropes on his hands. Gathering wind chakra around his hands, he began to manipulate it. Hearing the sound of light tearing, he smirked focusing on the wind chakra cutting the rope. The Chunin winced, feeling the wind chakra cut into his wrists due to his control not being that good yet.

He began to pull his hands away as he gathered more wind chakra until they suddenly snapped apart, making him jump slightly on the chair. "I have no time to lose," he muttered as he put his ninja sandals back on. Turning around he found that his shirt and scrolls had been put on the corner of the room. He quickly put on his white shirt and pocketed the scrolls.

Without thinking twice, the Chunin jumped out of the building's window and landed safely on the sand. Sighing in relief he turned around with his eyes widening at the sight before him. There was nothing but sand where he used to be, not even a rock or any kind of evidence that showed there had been a building there.

"What is this?" he wondered as he extended his right hand, gasping when feeling the rough surface of the building against his hand. A small blue glow surrounded his hand as he touched the building, "How did she make a whole building invisible? Is it a kind of genjutsu or another kind of seal?"

Naruto frowned and turned on his heel before breaking into a run. He didn't have time to wonder how the building worked, he needed to get away from Red Death. He didn't want to risk being captured again and knew that if he did, then she wouldn't be as forgiving as before. What he needed to do was reunite with his team and find a way to stop her.

The blond reached into his pant's pocket and took out a scroll. He poured some chakra onto it and his headband appeared before him. A smile formed on his lips as he remembered how he had gotten it, it was a reminder that he had important people he needed to protect. Tying it around his forehead, Naruto made a few clones, all of them running next to him.

"Scatter and leave a trail," he ordered as the clones ran in opposite directions. He was sure that Mayu would be preoccupied following their tracks and give him more time to prepare. Naruto's headband shone on the desert as he continued to run with a frown on his face, he hoped that round three would go to his team.

* * *

Sasuke, Gaara and Kankuro walked through the desert, none of them talking. The puppet-user was a little freaked out by the odd auras that surrounded his two teammates but he didn't voice it, choosing to keep his eyes on the horizon instead. The one-tailed jinchuuriki kept his eyes focused on the surrounding area, looking for any kind of movement that would give them a hint as to where Red Death had gone.

Sasuke kept a hand over his kunai holster as he walked. He felt as if they were being watched and could have sworn to have seen something earlier. They hadn't heard or seen the mercenary the Sand ninja were talking about back at the village but being prepared wouldn't hurt, he would be the one to kill him. He needed to test his strength and a mercenary would be the perfect opponent.

"Stop," Gaara ordered as he came to a halt, his eyes focused on the desert. Kankuro turned to Gaara with a confused look while Sasuke scoffed with his arms crossed. Not long after, the outline of a person could be seen in the distance.

"Who's that?" Kankuro wondered as he narrowed his eyes on the figure.

Sasuke focused on the figure before breaking into a smirk. "It's just Naruto, I knew the idiot wouldn't get himself killed," his eyes caught the sigh of movement once more, making him turn to his right rather sharply, alerting the other ninja. "It's nothing," he muttered when he saw the two Sand ninja look at him oddly, "Let's just get the idiot back for now."

Gaara nodded as he broke into a run towards the Chunin, the other two following behind him, Sasuke keeping an eye out for the mercenary.

* * *

Ino walked heavy steps through the streets of Konoha. She held a tired expression on her face and her clothes looked like they had seen better days, she would need to wash them as soon as she got home. Tsunade hadn't been light on the rest of the training and she could feel her body begin to ache from the rigorous training she had gone through, she hoped to get a warm bath as soon as possible.

Not many people walked around the village but she guessed it was because it would get dark in a few hours. She turned a corner and her eyes filled with recognition. Sakura walked a little ahead of her with a slight bounce on her step. It was rare for Sakura to show that level of happiness and the blonde kunoichi couldn't resist her curiosity. Ino was never one to be left out of gossip and picked up her pace, hoping to catch up to the pink-haired ninja.

"Hey Forehead, how have you been?" Ino greeted, the nickname a habit rather than an insult.

Sakura turned to Ino with a frown on her face. "What do you want here Ino-pig?" she sighed out in annoyance before she realized the condition Ino was in, "What happened to you?"

Ino found herself laughing a little nervously, remembering the torture she now had to endure almost daily. "I was out training," she explained, "But that doesn't matter now. I want to know what's got you so happy."

Sakura suddenly had a smug look on her face, a competitive glint on her eyes. "When I was walking around the market I heard someone say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," she pointed at herself with an exited smile on her face, "I'm going to make something for Sasuke and give it to him when he comes back from his mission."

Ino suddenly broke into a fit of laughter, tears welling up on her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," she gasped out as she laughed. Sakura fumed and clenched her fists, a bright blush on her face, "Come on Forehead, you can't be that naïve."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura growled.

Ino smiled. "You don't have to cook anything for anyone, if they like you then they like you," she explained, "You just have to spend time together and things just fall into place. Sure you have to do some work but don't go out of your way, it'll work out eventually."

"You don't even know about that Ino," the pink-haired ninja accused with a frown on her face, "It doesn't work like that."

"Of course it does," Ino countered with a light blush on her cheeks, remembering how she and Naruto had admitted their feelings and the days they had spent together. Maybe it really didn't work that way for everyone but she shrugged it off, "That's how it worked for me and Naruto anyway."

"Wait," Sakura muttered with wide-eyes, her whole body frozen in shock and a perturbed look on her face. Ino watched the other ninja with a frown, not thinking it was that much of a shock, "You and Naruto? Blond, goofy and loud Naruto?"

"Yes, why?" Ino asked a little harshly, making Sakura gulp and wave her hands defensibly.

"N-nothing I was just wondering," she admitted with a nervous laugh. Ino huffed and began to walk away. Sakura trailed behind her with a guilty look on her face, "Come on Ino, I was just really surprised. I never expected you and Naruto to be together."

Ino's face softened and she stopped walking, turning to Sakura with a small smile. "It's okay Forehead, I guess it's pretty strange that we ended up together," she admitted with a tender look on her eyes, "But I've never been happier."

"Really?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"Yeah," the blonde said with a nod, "There's something about him that makes you feel special, like you're the only person in the world. I was mean to him back when we were kids but he still looked past that and treats me really well."

Sakura found herself smiling, she was happy that Ino was happy and with Naruto nonetheless. "You're sounding pretty corny Ino-pig," she teased, making the blonde glare, "Anyway, I'm happy for you guys. Naruto's not that bad and I have one less person to worry about with Sasuke."

Ino chuckled and shook her head. A yawn escaped her lips as she turned to walk away. "I'm going home," she announced with a tired expression, "I've had a long day. It was nice to talk to you, Sakura."

Sakura watched Ino leave with a smile, feeling the friendship they had broken long ago began to heal, it would be nice to have her as a friend again. "I'll see you later, Ino," she called out as she made her way home.

* * *

Naruto ran through the desert with no particular thought in mind. His clones had dispelled in unknown ways and it could only mean to things, that someone really hated clones or that Red Death had noticed his absence and took chase. He really hoped it wasn't the latter of the two. Running from Red Death would result on his capture, he knew that he should meet with his friends but he had no idea just how he was going to make it, it would be a matter of time before he was found and his invisibility jutsu wouldn't work since Red Death would be on the alert.

'_Come on Naruto,' _he urged himself, _'Remember what Jiraiya-sensei taught you.'_

'_Remember well Naruto,' _Jiraiya's voice echoed on his head, _'whenever a lady says no it means yes!"_

Naruto shook his head violently, _'No, not that!'_

'_You'll never guess Tsunade's bra size. Come on, take a guess!'_

"Useless pervert!" Naruto exclaimed as he continued to run, giving up on his master for now.

His breath hitched when a wall of sand appeared right before him without any warning. Not able to stop his run, the blond crashed face-first unto the wall with his head breaking through it, getting stuck in a rather comical way.

"Are you serious?" he growled as he tried to pull his head away from the sand, "Someone get me out of here!"

"Very well," Gaara's monotone voice stated. The wall of sand dispersed, enabling the blond to move once more. Naruto led out a sigh of relief as he turned to see the Sand ninja accompanied by Sasuke and Kankuro, "We came looking for you but it appears you're not in danger."

Naruto nodded, nursing his neck his with right hand. "I managed to break out but I'm sure Red Death is after me," he gave his teammates a nod of acknowledgement before making a few clones, "I'll leave this guys here to leave fake trails, they bought me some time before. We have to get out of here as soon as possible and come up with a better plan."

"Then let's get out of here already," Kankuro urged.

"Where are Shikamaru and the other girl?" the Chunin asked in confusion.

Kankuro sighed. "Don't let her catch you calling her that," he stretched his arms in a tired manner, "She and that Shikamaru guy are laying traps for Red Death."

"Then you guys lead, we have to regroup," Naruto ordered, receiving nods from his teammates. The two clones ran in opposite directions and the group of shinobi ran through the sand, hoping not to run into trouble.

Shikamaru looked over his work with a careful eye. He and Temari had set up traps around the area, using the sand to cover them up. The lazy Chunin had taken a liking to Naruto's explosive tags since they were detonated with a simple hand seal, he wondered if he could also learn sealing but decided against it, it would be too much work.

The traps were set up to make a large circle. He would trigger them when Red Death was inside of the circle. The explosions would create a large cloud of sand that would shield everything from view, hiding the many tags inside of the circle. Those tags were Naruto's strongest explosives. Since those explosive tags took longer to activate, a diversion was needed. It was a well enough plan but it would need precise timing and for the team to actually know where the traps were.

"Someone's coming," Temari muttered, reaching for her fan. Shikamaru turned to his right to see four shadows approaching them, he held up a hand, motioning her to wait, "What?"

Shikamaru sighed. "We can't attack just yet," he ordered with narrowed eyes, "There's the possibility that their allies."

"Fine, but if we die it will be your fault," she muttered with a frown.

As the figures got closer the distinct color of Gaara's hair gave them away. Shikamaru sighed in relief while Temari got a smile on her face, happy to know that Naruto was okay. The shadow-user threw Temari a confused glance, it seemed she had grown rather fond of Naruto, he thought of telling her that Naruto had a girlfriend, a violent one at that, but he didn't want to get in the middle of things so he shrugged it off.

"Nice to see you're alright," Shikamaru stated with a small grin on his face.

Naruto grinned and pointed a finger at himself. "You didn't think I'd let myself get caught so easily, did you?" he joked with a chuckle. He looked around the area and raised a brow, "Did you guys set up the traps?"

"Of course," Temari responded with a proud look on her face, "I guess we hid them pretty well."

"You really did, good job guys," he congratulated with a smile. Temari found herself blushing lightly and turned away from the group with her gaze on the sand.

"So, what now?" Kankuro asked.

Sasuke scowled. "We should just fight Red Death and lead him to the trap," he suggested with his hands on his pockets, "That way we'll get rid of him easily."

"No, Red Death won't go down that easily," Naruto muttered with a frown on his face. The group threw him odd looks, wanting to know what he meant, "I was able to figure out how Red Death fights and a trap won't be enough."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Shikamaru asked in a serious expression.

Naruto crossed his arms before closing his eyes in deep thought. "I guess I might be able to come up with something," he muttered more to himself than to anyone. He opened his eyes and gave the group a confident group, "Yeah, I think I can come up with something. Red Death fights by using seals, all we have to do is counter them and Red Death will be vulnerable."

"How will you do that?" Gaara asked in a monotone voice.

"Back when I trained with Jiraiya-sensei he taught me some of the seals he knows," Naruto explained, "It takes me a few hours but I'll be able to make the one we need."

"Sounds like a plan," Shikamaru decided. The group stood in front of him with a confident spark on their eyes, the lazy Chunin nodded at them with the same confidence on his eyes, "We'll take Red Death down tonight."

* * *

The desert was cold as Gaara and Kankuro walked through it. Gone was the light of day, replaced by the darkness of night. The two ninja kept their eyes open for any sign of their opponent. The moon shone down on the desert, giving the sand a dim silver glow.

The group had broken into different teams that served a different purpose. Gaara and Kankuro had been chosen to face Red Death directly and were walking through the desert in hopes of running into the ninja. As if invoking Red Death, sand suddenly shot up around them, blocking their view. Gaara frowned and dispersed the sand without much trouble. Kankuro quickly took out his puppet as his eyes darted around the area, trying to find the ninja.

"Kankuro…" Gaara called in a low voice. The puppet-user turned to his brother with a confused expression, "Jump away."

As soon as the simple command left the jinchuuriki's lips, the two leapt away, just as a powerful shot of air struck the place where they had just stood and kicked up a small cloud of sand. "Good job," came Red Death's voice. The sand cleared to show the familiar form of Red Death, scythe twirling on her right hand, "Not many can dodge my attacks, but then again I wasn't planning on hitting you."

Gaara simply stared at his opponent and prepared to attack, his brother next to him with his puppet ready to move.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke watched the ninja from a safe distance. The two Team 7 members were to enter the fight when they saw fit. Getting a surprise attack on Red Death would be crucial for their plan and they had to time it just right.

Sasuke suddenly broke into a run, making Naruto gasp in surprise. The Uchiha took a kunai in hand, wanting to finish the fight as soon as possible. His eyes widened when Naruto suddenly appeared before him with a frown on his face.

"What are you doing Naruto?" Sasuke growled with a glare.

Naruto's eyes narrowed on his teammate. "We can't interfere just yet. If we go in there now then the plan will go to waste," he explained, "Let's just wait a few more minutes."

"We don't have a few more minutes," he argued with his glare still on place, "If everything goes according to plan we won't get to truly test ourselves, do you want that Naruto?"

Naruto clenched his fists. "Look, Sasuke. I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion so just listen," the Chunin countered, "It's not about testing ourselves, it's about taking down Red Death. You can't order us around, so learn your place on this mission, Genin."

Sasuke glared as the Chunin approached him, with his eyes narrowed. _'I"m not beneath you, loser' _the Uchiha growled in his head, _'I'll show you where I stand!'_. Naruto shot him one last look before beginning to move past him.

Everything happened in a flash. Naruto suddenly got the wind knocked out of him by Sasuke's punch before the Uchiha kicked him away. The blond landed on the sand, rolling with the punch and getting on his feet, creating a clone as soon as he got back up. The clone took hold of Naruto's arms before launching him at Sasuke. The Uchiha could do nothing but watch as the Chunin's right fist met his face rather painfully.

Blood escaped Sasuke's mouth as he jumped away from the blond. He nurse his jaw, glaring at Naruto with his left fist clenched. The two glared at each other and slipped into their taijutsu stances. The Uchiha saw this as an opportunity to put Naruto on his place while the blond knew that Sasuke wouldn't stop without a fight.

With the sound on an explosion in the distance, the two ran at each other. Their plan put on great jeopardy.

* * *

Shikamaru watched Red Death fight his teammates in the distance, Temari standing next to him with a frown on her face. The lazy Chunin was growing agitated, there was no sign of Naruto or Sasuke entering the fight. He guessed that they would have intervened by now but there was no sign of them.

"Where the hell are they?" Temari growled with worry on her eyes.

Shikamaru sighed. "Don't worry much about it-"

The two ninja suddenly jumped away from where they stood, dodging a set of kunai in the process. The two turned around to see a man with long black hair, a goatee on his face, wearing samurai-like armor.

"I don't get why you ninja's use tools like this," the mercenary began, twirling a kunai on his left hand, "They're easy to dodge and you can tell when their coming. You ninja aren't that stealthy, are you?"

Shikamaru studied the man, wondering why he was after them. Meanwhile Temari took out her fan and gripped it tightly on her hands. "Why are you here anyway?" the lazy Chunin asked with a frown on his face, "By the way you talk and dress yourself, I'd say you're a mercenary."

The man smirked. "Not bad kid. You're sharper than you look, but…" the mercenary reached for his back and pulled out a sword, pointing it at the two ninja, "But, it won't save you. I won't show mercy just because you're kids."

The two ninja readied themselves to fight, their eyes focused on the mercenary. They hadn't counted on being attacked right when they were facing Red Death. Things just got a lot more complicated and they hoped that they would be able to come out on top.

**Ch. 28 End**

**That's the chapter today guys. Sorry that I left it in a cliffhanger but I couldn't fit the whole thing in one chapter. **

**IMPORTANT NOTICE: I will not post a new chapter next week since I went through the story rather fast. I will spend the time going over the remaining plot and getting an idea of each chapter. Sorry about that guys.**

**Also, since we're more than halfway through with the story I've decided to post the new attacks of the characters. Only two have gained new jutsu but the other will also gain new jutsu soon enough, so here they are:**

* * *

**Naruto: Konoha Chunin**

**Abilities:**

** Tree-walking**

**Water-walking**

**Sealing**

**Pure Fox Chakra Mode (Will be explained later)**

**Jutsu: **

**Shadow Clone Jutsu (B-Rank)**

**Rasengan (A-Rank)**

**Invisibility Jutsu (C-Rank)**

**Elemental Jutsu:**

**Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball (B-Rank)**

**Wind Style: Gale Palm (D-Rank)**

**Wind Style: Devastation (C-Rank)**

**Wind Style: Air Bullets (C-Rank)**

**Wind Style: Wind Wave (C-Rank)**

**Wind Style: Drilling Fist (A & B Rank. Depending on chakra used)**

**Ino: Konoha Genin**

**Abilities:**

**Tree-walking**

**Water-walking**

**Genjutsu**

**Jutsu:**

**Mind Body Switch Jutsu**

**Mind Destruction Jutsu**

**Elemental Jutsu: **

**Water Style: Liquid Bullets (C-Rank)**

**Water Style: Raging Waves (C-Rank)**

* * *

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	29. Failed Plans

**Hey guys I am back. It took a while but I was able to finish a large part of the story outline. Right now it's on paper and it's almost at the end so I probably won't need to take a one week break in a while. Chapters will come out on their usual schedule. **

**I will put a bit of last chapter on this one since some of you might have forgotten how things ended. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 29 Failed Plans**

_Shikamaru watched Red Death fight his teammates in the distance, Temari standing next to him with a frown on her face. The lazy Chunin was growing agitated, there was no sign of Naruto or Sasuke entering the fight. He guessed that they would have intervened by now but there was no sign of them._

_"Where the hell are they?" Temari growled with worry on her eyes._

_Shikamaru sighed. "Don't worry much about it-"_

_The two ninja suddenly jumped away from where they stood, dodging a set of kunai in the process. The two turned around to see a man with long black hair, a goatee on his face, wearing samurai-like armor._

_"I don't get why you ninja's use tools like this," the mercenary began, twirling a kunai on his left hand, "They're easy to dodge and you can tell when their coming. You ninja aren't that stealthy, are you?"_

_Shikamaru studied the man, wondering why he was after them. Meanwhile Temari took out her fan and gripped it tightly on her hands. "Why are you here anyway?" the lazy Chunin asked with a frown on his face, "By the way you talk and dress yourself, I'd say you're a mercenary."_

_The man smirked. "Not bad kid. You're sharper than you look, but…" the mercenary reached for his back and pulled out a sword, pointing it at the two ninja, "But, it won't save you. I won't show mercy just because you're kids."_

Shikamaru studied the man with a careful eye, he held the sword with two hands in front of his body. It looked like a pretty standard and relaxed stance but the Chunin knew better. The mercenary clearly knew what he was doing and wouldn't let himself open without a reason, unless he planned on tricking them.

"Temari…" he muttered with his gaze on the mercenary. The blonde Sand ninja turned to the shadow-user with a frown, "Don't attack him head on, he's expecting that."

Temari's frown deepened. "Then what am I supposed to do," she muttered back, "We can't just stand here or he'll find an opening."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he watched the mercenary shift his feet, he was about to attack. "It'll be a pain but I'll create an opening," he turned to the Sand ninja and gave her a firm nod, "Make sure to get him or else my work will go to waste, and that would suck."

The mercenary watched the two ninja talk amongst themselves with a smirk on his face, he found it amusing to watch since they thought that they could actually beat him. Traveling the world had made him strong and he would show it to them.

A sudden explosion rocked the area. The mercenary frowned while the two ninja turned to look at a large cloud of smoke in worry. His eyes narrowed, he didn't' have much time. If he was to do his job then he would need to kill the ninja when they were alone, taking more than two opponents, ninja nonetheless, would only make things difficult.

His eyes scanned the ninja and found them to be slightly distracted. An opening. Not waiting another second, he charged at the two ninja with his sword on his side. The black-haired ninja quickly faced him and threw a couple of shuriken. The man scoffed and swung his sword, sending the incoming projectiles away.

Shikamaru threw more shuriken at the man. He watched as the mercenary prepared to knock them away, making him smirk. Next to him Temari swung her fan and created a stream of wind that changed the speed of the shuriken.

"Dammit," the mercenary growled as he was forced to throw himself on the ground, effectively dodging the projectiles. He jumped back to his feet just in time to dodge a kunai, he glared at his opponents but heard the distinct sound of burning paper. With wide-eyes he looked down to see the kunai bearing an explosive tag on its handle, "Shit!"

The mercenary jumped away from the area but not fast enough to avoid the impact. The man was blown away before landing hard on the sand, kicking up a small cloud of sand. He quickly rose to his feet and swung the sword horizontally, earning a loud 'clang.' In front of him stood Temari with her fan interlocked with his sword, she had used the sand cloud as a diversion while she attacked head on, a wise move in the mercenary's opinion.

The man smirked, Temari used both hands to hold her fan and that left her wide open. The Sand ninja's eyes widened before a grunt escaper her lips, the man had used his other hand to punch the kunoichi on her stomach. Her grip on the fan loosened, giving the man one more opening, he applied more pressure on the intertwined weapons and managed to knock the fan away.

Temari was left wide open with no source of defense. The mercenary lifted his sword before bringing it down on the kunoichi with a smirk on his face, this would be his first kill of the day. "What the?" he exclaimed when the sword stopped only centimeters away from the girl's skull. His eyes darted around the area to the Leaf Chunin holding his hands on a hand sign with a large shadow stretching from his feet towards him.

"My turn," Temari muttered before kicking the man in the stomach as hard as she could. The man emitted a low grunt before being launched away from the girl by a hard chakra-enhanced punch. He crashed against the sand with a cry of pain, kicking up a small cloud of sand.

"You idiot!" Shikamaru exclaimed with a little sweat on his forehead. He glared at Temari with his arms on his sides, "You weren't supposed to hit him. I already had him under my jutsu! Now we have to get him again."

Temari scowled and held her fan to the side with a cocky grin. "Then we just do it again," she responded. She watched as the mercenary stood back up a little shakily, "I have a feeling it won't be too hard anyway."

The mercenary glared at the two ninja. They were a lot stronger than he originally thought. It wasn't always that he was left in this state but then again, his encounters with ninja weren't many. If he wanted to kill them then he would need to get serious and use all of his abilities.

"Let's see if you can handle this," the mercenary began as he took of his shin and arm guards. The accessories hit against the sand loudly and making small craters. The man stretched his arms with a loud sigh, throwing a confident smirk at the two ninja, "You're dead."

* * *

Red Death smirked under her mask. A shot of sand moved towards her but she easily jumped over it. By the look of concentration on the redheaded kid, his sand was still in pursuit though it wouldn't catch her. Turning her head to the side she saw the sand still chasing after her, much to her amusement, such attacks wouldn't be able to even scratch her.

She dropped to the ground and swung her scythe, creating a powerful blast of wind that struck the sand, dispersing it on contact and leaving nothing but a light breeze. Red Dearth stared blankly at the two ninja, wanting to see what else they had up their sleeves. If there was one thing that she enjoyed it was testing her opponents, not one person in the world had the same abilities and it was always fun to see how different everyone was. Controlling sand was rare and she wanted to see more of it, unlike the other kid who controlled puppets since they were common on the Sand village.

Red Death twirled the scythe on her right hand, creating a light breeze. She wanted to show that she wasn't serious on this fight, maybe then they'll go all out since it was clear that they weren't using their best abilities. Another shot of sand launched towards her, much to her disappointment, however this time she merely brought the scythe down on the ground and created a wall of earth. The sand crashed against the wall before falling limply on the sand.

"Fools," she muttered as she brought the wall down. Upon bringing it down, a puppet shot towards her with blades on its hands, making her utter a short gasp before jumping away. She landed on the sand without much trouble until the sand beneath her gave away, she tumbled down before walls of sand surrounded the area around her in a large orb, "Interesting."

Gaara concentrated on his attack, controlling such a large amount of sand took a great toll on his chakra reserves but it was a necessity when fighting someone so strong. "Sand Coffin…" he muttered as the walls of sand compressed on Red Death, "It's over."

Kankuro found himself sighing in relief. "That was good Gaara," the puppet-user wondered why the attack didn't seem as intimidating as before. Back when his brother had isolated himself from everyone the same attack would make him shutter in fear but now it seemed natural, almost something artistic.

"Did you think you had me?" a familiar voice came behind the two ninja. They quickly turned around to see Red Death standing before them with the scythe slung over her right shoulder. Kankuro was completely thrown off, never before had someone escaped his brother's Sand Coffin, it seemed almost unnatural. He spared a glance at Gaara to see him snarl at the enemy ninja with something he had never seen on his brother's eyes before. The puppet-user trembled slightly, it was rare for his brother to show how he felt and seeing him act so, dare he say, afraid, showed that they were in a really bad situation.

Red Death tightened the grip on her scythe before stabbing it into the ground, letting it stand there as she crossed her arms. "I find you two to be a little interesting," Kankuro gritted his teeth while Gaara's eyes narrowed on her, "That's why I'll play with you for a little while longer. I couldn't care less about puppets but controlling sand with such precision is something I've never seen before. Be glad that I don't plan on killing you soon."

"So you're only using us to entertain yourself?" Kankuro clenched his fists and threw her a glare, "We're shinobi of the Sand, we are not to be taken lightly!"

"Relax brat, I also require some bait," Red Death responded calmly, "I need you if I am to get Naruto back."

Gaara's eye hardened on the ninja. "What do you want with him?" the puppet-user looked at his brother with a look of confusion. The redhead appeared to be agitated and angry before he spoke once more, "I suppose it doesn't matter. If you want something with him then you'll have to answer to me."

"Well then…" Red Death began as she took hold of her scythe once more. Lighting gathered around the blade as she began to twirl it on her hand, "I guess I have to show you the gap between our powers sooner than I thought."

* * *

_Naruto and Sasuke watched the ninja from a safe distance. The two Team 7 members were to enter the fight when they saw fit. Getting a surprise attack on Red Death would be crucial for their plan and they had to time it just right._

_Sasuke suddenly broke into a run, making Naruto gasp in surprise. The Uchiha took a kunai in hand, wanting to finish the fight as soon as possible. His eyes widened when Naruto suddenly appeared before him with a frown on his face._

_"What are you doing Naruto?" Sasuke growled with a glare._

_Naruto's eyes narrowed on his teammate. "We can't interfere just yet. If we go in there now then the plan will go to waste," he explained, "Let's just wait a few more minutes."_

_"We don't have a few more minutes," he argued with his glare still on place, "If everything goes according to plan we won't get to truly test ourselves, do you want that Naruto?"_

_Naruto clenched his fists. "Look, Sasuke. I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion so just listen," the Chunin countered, "It's not about testing ourselves, it's about taking down Red Death. You can't order us around, so learn your place on this mission, Genin."_

_Sasuke glared as the Chunin approached him, with his eyes narrowed. __'I'm not beneath you, loser' __the Uchiha growled in his head, __'I'll show you where I stand!'__. Naruto shot him one last look before beginning to move past him._

_Everything happened in a flash. Naruto suddenly got the wind knocked out of him by Sasuke's punch before the Uchiha kicked him away. The blond landed on the sand, rolling with the punch and getting on his feet, creating a clone as soon as he got back up. The clone took hold of Naruto's arms before launching him at Sasuke. The Uchiha could do nothing but watch as the Chunin's right fist met his face rather painfully._

_Blood escaped Sasuke's mouth as he jumped away from the blond. He nursed his jaw, glaring at Naruto with his left fist clenched. The two glared at each other and slipped into their taijutsu stances. The Uchiha saw this as an opportunity to put Naruto on his place while the blond knew that Sasuke wouldn't stop without a fight._

_With the sound on an explosion in the distance, the two ran at each other. Their plan put on great jeopardy._

Sasuke quickly took out a kunai and flung it at the blond. The Chunin raised his right hand and poured chakra onto it, summoning Asuma's blade and knocking the projectile away. He watched as Sasuke took out another kunai and brought it forward, he did the same and the two met with a loud 'clang.'

Naruto glared at Sasuke, his teeth grinding in anger. "Let's stop this before it gets out of hand Sasuke," he suggested in a firm tone. Fighting his own comrade in the middle of a mission was out of the question, he wanted to avoid fighting the Uchiha at all costs, "We can just forget this happened."

"Are you out of your mind," Sasuke countered in anger, his eyes burning into Naruto's. His eyes began to change into a deep red, two tomoes on each eye, "I'll prove that I am stronger than you."

Sasuke's eyes burned in rage as he applied more pressure against the blond, making him wince under the hold. Naruto was pushed back by the force of the hold, the Uchiha was clearly not going to hold back, if that was the case then neither would he.

Wind chakra poured onto the Chunin's blade, sharpening it and cutting into the kunai, much to Sasuke's shock. The blond broke the kunai in two before kicking the avenger on the stomach. The Uchiha doubled over in pain before receiving a hard kick to the face. His head snapped to the side, making him cry in pain as he fell on the sand. As he fell he rolled with the momentum and stood back up with a hardened glare, the loser wouldn't beat him.

"That's enough Sasuke!" Naruto pleaded in desperation. He didn't want to hurt his friend, it had been his promise not to allow anyone of them to get hurt. Staring at one of his firsts friends willing to attack him was not something he had wanted under any circumstances.

Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath to pull himself together. "Nobody's going to stop our fight, don't you get it?" he opened his eyes and smirked, "This was always meant to happen Naruto. You called me your rival once. Well then…" The Uchiha ran through hand signs before putting a hand in front of his mouth, "Let's see if you have what it takes to be _my_ rival!"

Fire shot out of Sasuke's mouth, shooting ferociously through the air. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he ran through hand signs and put a hand in front of his mouth. Wind shot out of his mouth and met with the fireball in a big explosion that shot sand everywhere. The sound of chirping suddenly pierced the area, small blue sparks breaking out of the sand.

'_It can't be!' _Naruto screamed on his head before feeling something pierce his stomach. He looked down to see Sasuke's lighting filled hand pulling out of his stomach. A surprised gasp escaped his lips before he burst in a cloud of smoke.

'_A clone!" _Sasuke turned around, scanning the area for any sign of his teammate, _'When the hell did he have time to make a clone? There's no way he could have reacted so quickly.' _A sudden flare of chakra caught his attention, he quickly looked down before jumping away. He saw Naruto erupt from the sand with his left hand extended.

The two ninja landed on the sand, both with light pants, and focused expressions. By the looks of things they were about equal when it came to power. It seemed that the fight would be decided by their stamina which wasn't favorable to Sasuke. As much as he hated to admit it Naruto would surely win if it came to stamina, Kakashi himself had once said that the dead last had had more chakra than most Jonin. If he was to win then he would need to kick it up a notch.

Naruto stared at his friend in disbelief. He had just used the Chidori, possibly his strongest attack. _'He tried to kill me,' _his right hand clenched on his blade. He scanned the Uchiha and raised a brow when he saw black markings on the left side of his neck, _'The Cursed Seal.'_

_-Flashback-_

"_The Cursed Seal…?" Naruto repeated with his head cocked to the side. _

_Jiraiya rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yes for the hundredth time Naruto," he sighed out, "The Cursed Seal."_

* * *

_It had been a normal morning for Naruto, the sun peeked out of his window, the sound of chirping birds graced his ears and the smell of dirty laundry filled the area. He sat in bed with a tired expression on his face, he still felt a little tired. The meeting with the Hokage the previous night had been scheduled way too late, so late in fact that it had been around midnight when he made it home._

'I have a mission today,' _he recalled as he stood up and walked out his room. Today he would be going to some one of Sound's bases with Ino, Neji and Choji. He inwardly smiled when he remembered the bet he had had with Ino, she would be mad when she saw him. _

"_Good morning!" came the cheery voice of Jiraiya as soon as the blond stepped into his living room. _

"_Good morning Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto greeted with a nod as he moved to the kitchen. His eyes suddenly widened and he turned to the couch to see Jiraiya sitting there as if he owned the place, "What the hell are you doing here?"_

_Jiraiya chuckled, it seemed that his new apprentice wasn't a morning person. "I heard you had a mission today so I thought I would give you some last minute advice," he stated with his arms crossed. The look of seriousness he held made the blond keep quiet, "Since you're going to a Sound base then you need to know about the Cursed Seal."_

"_The Cursed Seal?"_

* * *

"_What is that Jiraiya-sensei?" Naruto asked with furrowed brows._

_Jiraiya put crossed his arms and sighed loudly, closing his eyes in concentration before clearing his throat. "The Cursed Seal is one of the things that make Orochimaru dangerous," he frowned and pointed at his apprentice, "You actually have been close to one this whole time. That Uchiha teammate of you was given a Curse Seal by Orochimaru."_

_Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief, why hasn't anyone told him yet? "When did that happen?" his fists clenched as a growl escaped his lips, "That Orochimaru bastard is going to pay for that."_

"_Don't even think about getting close to Orochimaru!" Jiraiya snapped with a hardened look on his face. Naruto flinched under the tone of his master, he'd never heard him talk like that before, "You're nowhere near his level and believe me when I say that he can kill you before you get the chance to use a single jutsu. Last time he was only toying with you but I can assure you that it won't happen again."_

_Naruto looked down with a scowl on his face. If he couldn't fight Orochimaru then he should think of a way to get rid of the seal. "What does the Curse Seal do?" he turned to his master with a serious look on his face, "Is there any way to get rid of it?"_

"_The Curse Seal is a seal made for the sole purpose of giving Orochimaru's ninja a power boost. By what I've seen so far it also causes the person to slowly lose rational thought and become more violent. It could be a side-effect but, knowing Orochimaru, he probably made it that way," he explained, "Every time a person taps into their Curse Seal they lose more of themselves. The power that is gained comes directly from Orochimaru, meaning that they're able to gain even more if he sees fit. As of now there is no way to get rid of the new versions of the seal but I'm working on it."_

_Naruto nodded, knowing that he could only trust in his master. Jiraiya chuckled and crossed his arms, throwing the blond a cocky grin. "Didn't you have a mission to go to? You're not going to become another Kakashi, are you?" he teased. The Chunin's eyes widened before he ran back to his room, gathering all of his things. _

"_Gotta go Jiraiya-sensei!" he exclaimed as he jumped out the window, now fully clothed, "Don't worry! I won't do anything stupid!"_

_Jiraiya chuckled and watched his apprentice leave. He had actually used Shadow Clones to help him get ready, it was pretty smart when he thought about it. _

_-End Flashback-_

"So that's it, huh?" Naruto muttered with a sad smile on his face. His friend was being influenced by the Cursed Seal. There was no choice but to stop him before he lost himself to the power. Dark blue chakra swirled around the blond, enveloping him in a comfortable warmth before a crimson red mixed with it, making his skin burn slightly, "I have only used this once since I always used the watered down version, but I can't let you use the Curse Seal for too long."

Sasuke smirked as the markings on his neck scattered all throughout his face, deep purple chakra flaring around him. "You're no match for me dead last, I'll show you," he dropped into his taijutsu stance, staring down at the blond.

Naruto's eyes turned a deeper shade of blue with black slits. There was no use for words, he had to end it all before it was too late. His friends were still fighting Mayu and they needed his help. The chakra flared violently around him, his eyes glaring into Sasuke, "Let's end this Sasuke!"

* * *

Sweat trailed down Shikamaru's face, the mercenary had been wearing weights the whole time and now that they were off he was a lot more dangerous. The man was even close to Lee's speed. It made the Nara wonder why the world liked to give him too much trouble. He threw a glance at Temari to see her panting slightly, it seemed she was having trouble as well.

The mercenary stood in front of the two with a smirk on his face. Not one to wait, he ran at the two with his sword on hand, he would end this before anyone else arrived. Temari saw him charge in and used her fan to throw a powerful wind at the man. He saw this and jumped high in the air before spinning in place and diving towards the two.

Shikamaru threw a couple of kunai but they were easily deflected by the man's sword. "Follow me," the Nara muttered as he jumped away from the area. Temari jumped after the shadow-user, knowing that he had some kind of plan. The lazy Chunin flipped in the air and threw a couple more kunai but this time at the area where he had once stood.

"Dammit," the mercenary cursed when he saw two exploding tags waiting for him on the sand. As soon as he neared the sand he stabbed his sword into it and, using it as leverage, he gripped the hilt before throwing himself away from the explosives.

The kunais exploded in a large cloud of smoke, throwing sand throughout the area. "What now?" Temari suddenly asked with a frown on her face.

"This was only meant to be a diversion," Shikamaru explained, "When I say so I want you to use your wind chakra on the sand. I have a plan, so you need to keep him busy for as long as you can."

Temari smirked. "Leave it to me," she gripped her fan and swung it, creating a powerful gust of wind that cleared the sand. The mercenary stood before them with a frown on his face, part of his attire was burnt off as was part of his right arm.

"You damned brats will pay for this," the mercenary growled.

"Damn…" Shikamaru muttered with a weary smile on his face. It had been a pain in the ass mission after all. He couldn't wait to get home and rest, this was way too much for a fresh Chunin, "How troublesome."

**Ch. 29 End**

**For some reason I wasn't really happy with how the chapter turned out. I can't count the number of times when I deleted a sentence or even a whole page because it didn't fell right. Anyway the reason I had to stop the chapter here was because I thought it was a good spot to end it. As you saw on this chapter some things on the story will be left unexplained but will be explained later, confusing sentence but I hope you got it. Anyway, like I said, next chapter will come out like scheduled before. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	30. Desert Showdown

**Alright guys, I re-posted this chapter since I saw that I misspelled 'chakra.' I know how it's spelled but this chapter was difficult to write. I went over the Naruto and Sasuke fight like ten times and ended up writing the chapter for a whole day. By the time I was done with it my mind was fried and I missed the spelling mistake when reading over the chapter. **

**Anyway, next chapter will come out next weekend, like usual. I usually update on Saturdays so be sure to check the story out then. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch.30 Desert Showdown**

Gaara kept his eyes narrowed as he focused on Red Death. Sparks of lighting were emitting from the blade of her scythe and it seemed as if she was waiting for something in order to attack. Kankuro stood on his side with his puppet in front of him with two blades on hand, well aware of the fact that puppets wouldn't beat Red Death but he had to do everything on his power to win.

Red Death watched the two with a smirk under the gas mask she wore. They seemed to be overanalyzing everything, if their look of concentration was any clue, but it was futile. A sudden rise of demonic chakra got her attention, she snapped her head to the side to see the hints of a battle going on in the distance. Her eyes narrowed, just what the hell was going on?

Sand suddenly shot at the Whirlpool ninja, picking up speed as it grew closer. More lighting gathered around Red Death's scythe before she swung it at the shot of sand, creating a few lightning bolts that shot out of the weapon. Her attack easily pierced through the sand before heading straight for Gaara. The jinchuuriki quickly jumped away before punching at Red Death. Much to her shock his arm extended and managed to strike her stomach before she was thrown away by the power behind it.

As soon as she fell on the sand a puppet blocked her field of vision. It raised its two blades and brought them down on her. _'Shit,' _Mayu thought as she quickly slapped a hand to her shoulder and poured chakra into it.

Kankuro's eyes widened when his puppet's attack was abruptly stopped by a kind of barrier forming around Red Death. "What the hell it that?" he muttered to himself with a frown. The Whirlpool ninja quickly got to her feet and swung her scythe at the puppet, this time creating a raging fire around it. The attack tore through the puppet easily and left it in flames. Kankuro let go off the chakra strings and gritted his teeth, "Dammit."

Red Death turned to Kankuro with an annoyed look on her face. There was nothing special about this Sand ninja and he was beginning to annoy her with his presence. "I'll kill you first," she stated as her form suddenly faded from view before reappearing behind the puppet-user, "Die." Before he knew what happened the puppet-user felt a piercing pain shooting through his back, leaving an agonizing pain on his upper body.

Gaara watched with wide-eyes as blood splattered out of Kankuro's wound before lifelessly falling to the ground. "Kankuro…" he muttered in shock. The sand around the puppet-user was stained in a deep crimson, his eyes were closed shut and his breathing was weak.

The jinchuuriki didn't know what he was feeling, it was as if something had been ripped out of his chest. He didn't like the feeling and would slaughter the ninja that hurt his brother, one of his precious people. "I'll kill you," Gaara growled, demonic chakra leaking out of his body. Red Death narrowed her eyes, yet another source of demonic chakra though this one was a lot less malevolent than the first.

"A jinchuuriki…" she muttered with a frown underneath her mask. Jinchuurikis were one of the few things she respected. Those with a demon sealed inside of their bodies were all treated the same and knew pain similar to her own. But this time was different, a jinchuuriki was her foe and she wouldn't take it easy. She had seen what they were capable of and underestimating them would be stupid.

A violent wind gathered around Mayu's scythe, sharpening the blade and extending it. She watched sand cover half of Gaara's face, taking the shape of a demon. The jinchuuriki's eyes focused on the Whirlpool ninja as more wind sharpened the blade of her scythe. Round two was about to begin.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke stared each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. The air was tense as they continued to glare at each other. The Uchiha's right hand suddenly twitched before performing a series of hand signs. The jinchuuriki gritted his teeth when he noticed that the hand signs were way too familiar.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" Sasuke screamed as a gust of wind shot out of his mouth.

Not wanting to be caught in the attack the Chunin suddenly fazed from the Uchiha's view. The attack wasn't as strong as his but it was still enough to leave a mark.

Sasuke's eyes widened, seeing an image of Naruto in front of him with his hand held back. The Uchiha quickly rolled to the side just as the blond appeared before him and threw a punch. Purple chakra flared around him as he kicked off the sand and delivered a hard elbow to the Chunin's left ribcage.

Naruto's eyes widened, pain shooting through his upper body before the distinct sound of cracking echoed through his ears. He suppressed a gasp as he was pushed away from the Uchiha before rolling with the blow and standing up. His hand gripped his side in pain, his ribs were probably broken.

Sasuke smirked, enjoying the way the powerful chakra enveloped him. The chakra had given him strength, the strength to kill his brother and surpass all shinobi that stood on his way. He watched as Naruto glared at him, by the looks of things he was still superior to the dead last.

"You're weak Naruto," Sasuke stated with a chuckle. Naruto's fists clenched in anger much to the amusement of the Uchiha, "It looks like you haven't gotten any stronger since the Chunin exams. You really are pathetic."

Naruto's fist clenched tighter as a smirk made its way to his face. "What's wrong Sasuke?" he began in a taunting voice. "Did Itachi kick your ass so bad last time that you're trying to look strong now?" Sasuke's eyes widened before they glared into the blond, a burning rage in his eyes. Blue and red chakra flared around the jinchuuriki as he leaned forward and ran through hand signs, extending both arms towards the Uchiha, "Well, I'm not going to feed your ego."

"You're a fool Naruto," Sasuke stated with his eyes closed and a smirk on his face, "I bet you won't even be able to lay a finger on m-"

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!" wind shot out of Naruto's palms, violently shooting through the sand before impacting against the Genin. Sasuke's eyes snapped open as the violent wind struck his stomach and pushed him back. The Uchiha tried to resist the current but was hurled through the air by the powerful wind.

"Dammit," Sasuke cursed as he sailed through the air. He twisted his body and managed to land on the sand without much trouble. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was forced to lean down, dodging a kick from the jinchuuriki. He took his chance and kicked off the sand with his elbow raised, aiming for his right ribcage.

Naruto lowered his right arm to meet Sasuke's elbow. The Uchiha's attack met the blond's arm with a loud crack, the jinchuuriki gritting his teeth in pain. Quickly spinning to the left, ignoring the pain shooting through his arm, the jinchuuriki took out a kunai before stabbing it into his opponent's right arm.

Sasuke cried in pain, clutching his arm as blood poured down the wound before being kicked away by a foot to his chest. The Genin fell on the sand with a thud, pain shooting through his arm.

"Fuck!" the Uchiha cried out, tearing the kunai off his arm before his eyes widened, the sharingan showing Naruto diving towards him. He quickly rolled away before standing up and finally jumping away from the area, watching as the blond landed on the sand with a loud thud.

Naruto frowned, it appeared that Sasuke wasn't finished fighting. He had hoped that wounding him would have ended the fight but it looked like he had to knock him out after all. It would go against what he believed but he couldn't afford to endanger the others just because the bastard wanted attention.

'_Damn,' _Sasuke panted, watching Naruto stand before him with a few wounds. His left fist clenched and his mouth turned into a snarl and his eyes glared into his teammate. _'When the hell did he get so strong? Why is he stronger than me?' _black markings spread through the Genin's face. Purple chakra swirled around him as his eyes narrowed on the Chunin, he wouldn't' let it end this way.

The Chunin watched Sasuke with a cold look on his face. He watched as the purple chakra enveloped the wound on his arm and seemed to close it. _'I can't drag this on,' _he spared a glance towards the direction of Gaara and Kankuro. There was a sudden spike of demonic chakra and he knew that he was running out of time, he had to take Sasuke out as soon as possible, _'I can't play around anymore.'_

Blue and red chakra swirled around the blond, enveloping him in a warm yet malevolent chakra, his wounds seemed to close under the warmth. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," he muttered, two clones appearing by his sides. The clones narrowed their eyes at Sasuke before turning back to the original Chunin, waiting for the command.

Wind gathered on the blond's palm, taking the shape of an orb. The wind compressed and seemed to shake on the Chunin's palm. Without time to spare the two clones ran through hand signs before putting a hand to their mouth, pointing at the Uchiha. They were ready.

Lighting gathered on Sasuke's right palm as he charged up his attack. His wound was a little bit better and he was sure that it could handle a Chidori. By the looks of things the blond was about to attack and he couldn't afford to waste time.

"Didn't you know…?" Naruto suddenly muttered. Sasuke furrowed his brows with a scowl on his face, not understanding what the blond was talking about, "…Wind beats lightening."

Sasuke growled before shooting off towards Naruto. He noticed the clones but he didn't care, he would make the blond shut his mouth. He was nothing but a loser and he couldn't compare to his power. The dead-last had even mocked him about his attempt to take Itachi's life. He would end the life of the blond if that's what it took to shut him up.

Naruto's eyes settled on the floor as a sad scowl spread through his face. The clones next to him released the powerful winds, before dispelling. Sasuke had no idea that clones could use jutsu and could do nothing as the powerful twin winds crashed against his body. He sailed through the air before his eyes widened, the Chunin appeared before him with an orb of compressed wind on his right palm.

"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" Naruto cried as he brought down the attack on Sasuke's stomach. The Genin's eyes widened as blood splattered out of his mouth, before a wheezing breath escaped his throat. Sasuke was shot towards the sand before landing in a loud collision, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

Naruto landed on the sand with a frown on his face, he had never meant it to go so far. The sand began to clear, giving him a better view of the area. His fists clenched when Sasuke staggered out of the cloud of sand with a hardened glare on his face, three tomoes on his sharingan.

"This isn't over Naruto!" he cried as the markings on his face lit a bright red. Reaching into his kunai pouch he took out a single and glared at the Chunin, "I'm going to beat you."

Naruto closed his eyes and turned his back on the Uchiha. "I'm gonna go help Gaara and Kankuro," he announced with a loud sigh. Sasuke snarled, gritting his teeth in anger before breaking into a fit of coughs, "You're too weak to keep fighting. I'll make a clone to escort you back to the Sand village where we'll suppress your chakra and send you back to the Leaf. As your superior, I see you as a threat to this mission."

'_I'm not inferior to you…' _Sasuke glared at Naruto's retreating form, there had to be a way to beat him. He grit his teeth as he focused on the Cursed Seal, trying to draw power out, focusing on the chakra flow. A smirk graced his face when feeling the evil chakra inside of his body, there it was. The chakra that gave him strength, _'I'm stronger than you loser!'_

The Chunin stopped dead on his tracks when he felt a sudden spike of evil chakra and heard the distinct sound of approaching steps. Almost instantly, as if by instinct, he took out Asuma's blade before turning around, swiping at whatever approached him. He felt the blade cut through flesh, blood spilling onto his hand, before he finally saw the blade cutting through Sasuke's right eye.

"Sasuke!" Naruto immediately pulled away from the Uchiha, sealing his blade in the process.

"AAGGGGHHHH!" Sasuke screamed in agony as he brought two hands to his eye, blood pouring down his face. "Dammit!" he flailed around in pain before feeling something slap against his chest. A wave of fatigue suddenly washed over him before falling to the sand, unconscious.

Naruto quickly created two clones, having them take hold of the Genin. "Take him to the Sand village immediately," he commanded with worry on his voice, "Find a medic and get him patched up."

"You got it boss!" the clones replied before jumping away with the unconscious shinobi.

"What an idiot?" Naruto sighed out. He couldn't believe how stupid Sasuke had been, endangering the mission and then charging at him like that. In the end the thing to put him down had been a reflex and an exhaustion tag, created by the toad sage himself.

He turned to the battle in the distance, a determined look on his face. He had people depending on him and he wouldn't let himself feel guilty until they were safe. Not waiting another second the Chunin sprinted down the desert, demonic chakra fading with each step, his eyes set on the path ahead, _'Hang on guys.'_

* * *

The mercenary ran at the ninja with his sword on hand, his gaze set on the area around him, keen on not being caught off-guard by another of their attacks. He watched as the blonde ninja brought her fan back and instantly knew that she was preparing another wind attack. He stopped dead on his tracks, watching as the fan was swung forward and released a blast of wind. A smirk made its way to his face as he jumped back a couple of feet, the wind crashing against the spot where he had just been before charging at the ninja at full speed.

'_Got you,' _by the looks of things the blonde ninja could only attack with her fan. If he timed it right, like he just did, then he would be able to attack when she was the most vulnerable, right when she finished one of her powerful attacks.

Temari frowned when the man charged at her in an unbelievable speed. She knew that she wouldn't be able to use another wind jutsu since the man would strike before she did but she wasn't completely out of options.

Once close enough, the mercenary swung at the ninja in an attempt to finish her life once and for all. His eyes widened when the ninja set the metallic fan in front of her in a flash, blocking the attack with a loud 'clang.'

His eyes narrowed before he jumped over the fan, gripping his word tightly as he brought it down on the kunoichi. _'Finally,' _he thought as his weapon cut through the ninja but, much to his surprise, the kunoichi suddenly fazed out of view. _'It was a clone!' _he thought in alarm as he gripped his sword with both hands and settled for a defensive stance.

His eyes darted across the area. The dark-haired ninja stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed and a weary expression on his face. The mercenary knew that the dark-haired ninja wasn't done yet and wondered what he had planned but couldn't linger much on it. He needed to take care of the immediate threat that was the blonde ninja that had disappeared in the middle of their fight.

"Where the hell did she go?" he growled as the area around him disappeared into nothingness. The world around him was nothing but an endless abyss of darkness, with him being the only one in it. He took a step forward but crashed against an invisible force, his eyes widened as he raised a hand to touch the apparent wall in front of him.

"What the hell is this?" his hand touched the hard surface of a rather solid object. He quickly turned around, using his hands to touch the area around him but found that there were similar walls all around him. He was trapped within four invisible walls, "What the fuck is this?"

* * *

"Are you almost done Shikamaru?" Temari said through pants, her hands held in the tiger seal. Trickles of sweat ran down her face as she tried to keep the genjutsu in place. Though she knew how to use them, genjutsu was still difficult and took a great amount of chakra and concentration.

Shikamaru nodded with a smirk on his face. "I'm done," he stated with a tired look on his face. Using what remained of Naruto's improved explosive tags he had managed to come up with something to take care of the mercenary. Though it was a little tricky he was still glad with how it turned out, "When you get him out of the genjutsu I want you to raise a cloud of sand using your wind."

Temari nodded as she released the genjutsu. The mercenary instantly fell to his knees, panting heavily with his eyes wide. The Sand ninja took hold of her fan once more as she jumped in the air before swinging it towards the sand, creating a powerful gust of wind that impacted against it, kicking up a large cloud of sand that blocked everything from view.

The mercenary got back to his feet with a look of fury on his face. Those ninja had caught him in a genjutsu when he had least expected it. Being a mercenary meant that he didn't have much training when it came to chakra and because of this he was vulnerable to things like genjutsu.

The cloud of dust began to clear, the mercenary instantly prepared to charge at the two ninja but found that he couldn't move. "Shadow Possession success," Shikamaru muttered with a small smirk on his face. The mercenary's eyes widened as he struggled against the hold but to no avail, "Don't even try. As bothersome as it was I trained my hold on the jutsu, don't expect to break out anytime soon."

The shadow-user walked through the desert, the mercenary mimicking his moves. The Chunin stopped and set his hands into the ram seal, a scowl on his face. Temari stood next to him with a relieved look on her face, happy to know that the plan had worked.

"Wipe those looks off your faces," the mercenary smirked, "Don't think for a second that you've won."

"You're finished," Shikamaru deadpanned with a frown on his face, his eyes cold, "There's explosives all around you, which I'm about to detonate. I'm sure you know what that means."

The mercenary's eyes widened as his teeth grit in anger. "I will not be killed here!" he roared in rage, "I will kill you all! You haven't even seen an ounce of my power! I will not die here!"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed on the man, his frown deepening. "You already did," he calmly retorted as he activated the explosive tags around the man.

* * *

Gaara glared at the opponent staring at him as if mocking him. Kankuro's fallen form lay on the crimson tainted sand. The jinchuuriki punched at Red Death, his arm extending as it launched at the Whirlpool ninja. The enemy ninja frowned underneath her mask as she raised her scythe to meet the blow, using the wind she had gathered to cut through the arm rather easily. The sand arm fell limply on the ground before gathering around the jinchuuriki once more.

"Don't disappoint me," Red Death stated with a grim look on her eyes, "I plan on using some of my strength so show me a good fight."

"I'll kill you," Gaara snarled as he charged at the ninja with a crazed look on his eyes. Red Death gathered chakra on her scythe, wind shaping up the blade as she waited for the jinchuuriki to get closer.

"By the looks of things you can't seem to think straight at the moment," the Whirlpool ninja stated. Gaara jumped in the air before throwing a punch at the enemy. "Pity, you seem to have strength but without control you're nothing," she raised the scythe to meet the blow. The sand arm dug into the blade before a slice of wind cut through it.

Gaara's eyes widened as the wind cut through his arm before quickly moving away from the attack. The sand gathered on his arm hardened before falling to the ground, exposing his now bloodied left arm. He looked at his arm in terror, never before had he been cut so easily, just how powerful was Red Death?

Sparks of electricity emitted from Red Death's scythe as her eyes glared at the Sand jinchuuriki. He had let emotions cloud his judgment and that had been his downfall. She no longer found herself caring about the abilities he displayed. His easily influenced mind had been a disappointment.

"Die," she muttered with a frown as she pointed the scythe at the jinchuuriki. A lighting bold shot out of the scythe, ripping through the air as it headed straight for Gaara.

The redhead's eyes widened as he tried to dodged the attack but found himself unable to move. It was probably the same jutsu Red Death had used on the others during their first fight, for some reason he couldn't move his body. His eyes settled on the fallen form of his brother, his breathing weak, "I'm sorry Kankuro."

A figure suddenly jumped in front of Gaara, violent blue chakra flaring around him. A blue orb of chakra gathered on his hand before he slammed it at the lighting bold.

"Rasengan!" Naruto cried. The two attacks pushed against one another before the lighting bolt gave out in a small explosion. Red Death watched the figure with a hint of disappointment on her eyes.

Naruto stood before Red Death with a frown on his face. His eyes held black slits as blue chakra with hints of red flared around him. "Are you alright Gaara?" he asked with his eyes set on Red Death.

"I am fine," Gaara stated as sand gathered around his left arm once again. He found that whatever had been holding him was now gone and quickly moved next to the blond with a tired look on his face, "We need to get Kankuro some help."

"Right," Naruto nodded. His chakra swirled around him as he glared at Red Death, "I'll keep her busy, you take Kankuro to a medic."

Gaara frowned. "I will get him help but I'm coming back as soon as possible," he walked towards Kankuro's fallen form, keeping an eye on Red Death in case she decided to attack.

"They made you a jinchuuriki," Red Death stated in a firm tone.

Naruto frowned. "I don't see how that's any of your business," he flared the chakra around him, ignoring the burning feeling on his skin, "But I'll take you down right now!"

Meanwhile Gaara took hold of Kankuro, throwing Naruto a glance before running away from the area. He had to get his brother help, he was losing a lot of blood and would die if left unattended.

"I don't get it…" Red Death muttered as she reached for her mask, taking it off her face. Mayu grit her teeth in anger, not understanding why Naruto fought for Konoha. "You're a jinchuuriki! All of them are treated the same way, as outcasts! They're alone from the minute they're born with everyone hating them. How can you just stand there protecting the Leaf. Protecting those who have hurt you!"

"I'm not protecting _them_," Naruto's eyes hardened on the ninja, "I'm protecting the people who see me as their friend! You're right, I was hated in my village for a reason I didn't know and I hated them back." His eyes flashed red, malevolent chakra swirling around him, memories flashing before his eyes, "I wanted to rip them to shreds! Take everything away from them and kill them like they deserved!"

"Then why didn't you?" Mayu asked with a frown, "You could, no, you _can_ do that if you join me. We'll destroy Konoha together."

Naruto's eyes lost their crimson color, returning to their usual blue. The malevolent chakra around him died down. "I will never do that," he answered with a glare, "Konoha is the home of the people who saw me for who I am. They saved me from myself. They saved me from a path of hatred and I will always be grateful to them. I couldn't care less about the villagers but when you threaten my friends, I'll kill you without a second thought!"

"Very well," Red Death said as she put her mask back on. A violent blue chakra swirled around her, kicking up sand that covered the area. Naruto shielded his eyes, gritting his teeth. The Whirlpool ninja activated a seal on her scythe, enveloping it in a bright light.

The Chunin watched as the light separated into two, red-bladed katanas with black handles. "If I can't convince you then you're my enemy," Red Death roared in rage as more blue chakra flared around her, "I'll kill you, Konoha shinobi!"

'_I'm not gonna be able to beat her,' _Naruto concluded as he watched the chakra swirl around the Whirlpool ninja. All he could do at the moment was stall long enough until Gaara got back, _'I have to do this.'_

'_BOOOOOM'_

An explosion suddenly roared in the distance, taking the blond by surprise. "Don't lose focus for a single second," a voice muttered on his ear. The Chunin quickly turned his head to see Red Death behind him with one of the katanas raised. He quickly summoned Asuma's blade and prepared to parry the attack but was taken back when she suddenly phased from view.

"What the-" Naruto was cut off by a knee clashing against his stomach. His eyes widened as he spat blood, all air leaving his body as a shaky scream of pain escaped his mouth. Red Death stood before him with a hardened glare before kicking at the blond, making contact with his left ribcage with a loud cracking noise.

Naruto let out a scream of pain as he sailed through the air. It seemed as his ribcage hadn't been as healed as he had thought. He raised his head to see Red Death already running after him with the two swords held back.

"Dammit…" Naruto muttered as he ran through hand signs before raising a hand. "Wind Style: Wind Wave!" a shot of wind shot out of the blond's hand. Red Death raised a katana, absorbing the chakra without much trouble, to the dismay of the blond. The Whirlpool ninja proceeded to jump in the air and point the other blade at the blond, shooting a yellow blast of chakra.

The blast of chakra made contacts with the blond's stomach, launching him towards the ground. The blond Chunin cried in pain as his body impacted against the sand, his whole body going numb from the impact.

"What a pity," Red Death stated with a hint of sadness, "It looks like I'll be helping the other villages in killing another Uzumaki."

Naruto could only watch as Red Death approached him. His body refused to move and his chakra was close to nothing at the moment, it seemed as if he only had one choice. He had to use the fox's chakra directly, something he hated doing. He had tamed a tiny fraction of the power but doing so had only introduced him to a whole new level of the fox's chakra.

"It looks like I have no choice…" he stated as Red Death grew closer. His eyes closed as he focused in the source of almost infinite power sealed within him. Easily finding the malevolent chakra, he began to draw from it. He didn't have enough chakra to level it like Jiraiya had told him but it was his only way. He would do anything to protect his friends.

Red chakra erupted from the almost broken body of Naruto, covering everything in a red glow. Red Death stopped dead on her tracks, watching the malevolent chakra fill the area. She watched as the chakra gathered around the blond, swallowing him whole.

Naruto opened his crimson eyes and set them on Red Death. His first instinct telling him to kill her in the cruelest way possible, he didn't find it to be a bad idea. The Chunin got on all fours as he growled at his opponent. No matter how strong she was he would make sure to kill her.

"Is this..?" Red Death muttered in disbelief as she watched the chakra take form around the blond. Two red chakra ears formed above his head, clawed paws formed over his feet and hands, and a single red chakra tail sprouted from his back, "The Kyuubi?"

Her response was a roar.

**Ch.30 End**

**That will be all for now guys. Next chapter will continue as scheduled and there's a possibility that the chapter after that will come a few days later. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	31. One Final Struggle!

**Here's the new chapter of the week guys. Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter and to those of you who added the story to their alerts and favorites. There's not much to say now so I won't take up any more time. **

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch.31 One Final Struggle!**

Naruto roared in rage, a powerful shockwave rocking the area, kicking up clouds of sand and powerful winds. Red Death gripped her scythe tightly, the jinchuuriki was only using a portion of the Kyuubi but it was still enough to leave a mark if she wasn't careful. Crimson eyes glared into hers and time seemed to stop. Both Whirlpool survivors glared at each other before a chakra arm shot out of the jinchuuriki's stomach.

Red Death cursed and swung her scythe, creating a powerful stream of fire. Naruto's eyes hardened as the chakra arm grew close to the attack. Adding more demonic chakra, the arm seemed to flare up and easily broke through the attack without losing momentum. The chakra arm punched at the enemy but it was suddenly blocked by an invisible force around the enemy ninja.

The jinchuuriki scowled and applied more force against the kind of barrier. The chakra arm flared up once more, pushing even harder against whatever was protecting Red Death. Cracks suddenly formed around the ninja before the arm finally broke through with the sound of breaking glass. Naruto smirked as the chakra arm wrapped around Red Death's body.

"I finally got you!" the jinchuuriki exclaimed as he raised the arm high before crashing it against the sand with a loud crash. The Chunin relaxed his stance before hearing a familiar 'poof' coming from the area of impact. His eyes widened as he focused on where Red Death's body should be but found nothing but sand, "Dammit."

Naruto slipped into his taijutsu stance as his eyes scanned the area for any sort of movement. A gasp escaped his lips once he spotted a sign of movement to his right. In an instant he charged at the source with his eyes focusing on the figure ahead. Another chakra arm ripped out of the red cloak surrounding the blond and headed straight for the enemy.

Red Death raised her scythe, small sparks of lighting gathering around it before the blade turned a bright color blue. The jinchuuriki frowned and ran through hand signs, hoping to be fast enough. The enemy ninja swung the scythe against the incoming chakra arm, breaking through it with no trouble before charging at the jinchuuriki with her scythe raised above her head.

"Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Naruto exclaimed as powerful blasts of wind shot out of his mouth. Red Death's eyes widened as the attack made contact with her torso, followed by three more blasts of wind. The jinchuuriki growled when he saw that his attacks didn't even push the ninja back. His eyes narrowed in confusion as the ninja grew closer. Suddenly a blast of realization hit him just as a bright yellow light glowed around the scythe.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as two chakra arms shot out of his back and dug into the sand. Red Death stopped her run and pointed the scythe at the blond. The weapon shook almost uncontrollably from the amount of chakra it had absorbed. The Whirlpool ninja's eyes glared into the blond's as a yellow blast of chakra exploded out of her scythe.

Just as the attack was about to hit, the jinchuuriki was suddenly thrown into the air by the two chakra arms from earlier. The Chunin watched as the yellow blast of chakra exploded against the sand, kicking up sand everywhere. He would have been dead if the attack hit, there was no doubt and he knew for a fact that he had to find a way to deactivate the seals around Red Death's body.

This was no easy feat though. In order to do this he would need time to think of his next move which was hard to do with the amount of hate being poured into his system. His control over the bloodlust of the Kyuubi was fading and he would soon be reduced to an almost mindless beast. With what little common sense he had, the jinchuuriki gathered that the best thing to do would be to break through the seal with pure power.

Judging by how the scythe had been shaking he knew that there was a limit to how much chakra it could take. It was logical, in his clouded state of mind, that if he were to use the fox's chakra against the seals then they would break.

Naruto's eyes hardened, his field of vision blocked by the amount of sand moving through the air. He caught view of a shadow and released more demonic chakra that pushed the sand away from the area to reveal Red Death standing before him with her scythe on hand. The jinchuuriki snarled as he got into an all fours position, looking at Red Death like a predator would look at its prey.

Red Death frowned and gathered chakra around her blade. This time a tint of blue gathered around the edges as she twirled it on her right hand. The blond's eyes focused on the ninja before he charged at her on all fours. As the jinchuuriki ran he produced another chakra arm that shot at the ninja just as she swung her scythe.

A blast of water shot off the scythe just as the chakra hand took hold of Red Death, instantly clenching tightly around her body. She held back a groan of pain as her attack crashed against the jinchuuriki's face, throwing him back a couple of feet.

The jinchuuriki fell hard on the sand but managed to keep his grip on Red Death. He growled as the chakra hand clenched tighter on the enemy. The Whirlpool ninja grit her teeth in pain, the chakra arm not only squeezed her body painfully but it also burned her skin. She held back a smirk when she caught sight of the growling blond, it seemed he hadn't caught on to what she was about to do.

The rational side of Naruto took note of something, Red Death wasn't struggling against his hold on her. If she wanted to break out of the hold he knew for a fact that she would have done so already. Another wave of demonic chakra poured out of his body, immediately silencing the rational part of his brain and filling him with bloodlust. Who cared it she wasn't struggling, that only made it easier for him to kill her.

"You're a fool…" Red Death muttered with a smirk beneath her gas mask. The jinchuuriki's eyes hardened on his enemy as he clenched the chakra hand, earning a short gasp from the Whirlpool ninja. "This arm is made of chakra…" she managed through gasps for air.

Naruto's eyes widened when a blast of pure red chakra shot out of the arm, immediately releasing its hold on the ninja. The jinchuuriki quickly ran away from the area but wasn't fast enough. The blast of chakra impacted against his right arm before the blond was hurled through air from the impact.

Naruto heard a piercing scream, a sound filled with pain and agony. He suddenly found his eyelids heavy but tried to open them to find the source of the scream he had just heard. It wasn't until now that he felt a numbing pain shoot through his right arm. His eyes caught sight of a blurry figure right on top of him but before he could ask himself what it was, he felt something hard impact against his stomach. The jinchuuriki's eyes widened as he crashed against the sand, Red Death landing a few feet behind him.

'_Was it me? Was I the one that screamed like that?' _Naruto asked himself as he fought to stay conscious. The world around him was blurry and his body was numb, clearly from the beating it had received. _'How the hell did this happen?' _he tried to figure out just how Red Death had left him on this state so quickly. She hadn't been kidding when she said that she was holding back.

His body began to shake uncontrollably. He found it harder to breathe and his consciousness was slipping. The sound of footsteps echoed on his head as he tried to keep it together.

Red Death walked towards the fallen form of the blond with a firm gaze. The Konoha shinobi's arm was a complete mess. Pieces of skin had peeled out of his arm, revealing part of muscle tissue with the rest being blocked from view by the amount of blood running down his arm. There was also a little trail of blood coming out of his mouth, no doubt from the kick to the stomach he had received while sailing through the air.

"Stop right there!"

Red Death's eyes widened at the roaring voice coming from behind her. She quickly turned around to come face to face with a man she had known most of her life. In front of her stood Ayumu, her old sensei, with a stern look on his face.

"What do you want?" Red Death growled with a glare, "It's not like you to get out of your little village, sensei."

Ayumu kept a stern gaze as he took a quick glance at the blond. "I came here to correct something I can't overlook any longer," he stated, "I thought that meeting another Uzumaki would change your views but I can see that you've sunken too low to be saved."

Red Death pointed her scythe at her sensei. "What makes you thing that you can even get near me?" she spat in anger, "You're nowhere near where you used to be, you're only an old ma-"

A shot of wind struck against Red Death's torso, pushing her back a few feet before absorbing the chakra through her seals. The Whirlpool ninja charged at her teacher and swung her scythe, cutting through the man without much trouble before he phased out of view. She quickly altered her chakra but nothing happened. Much to her shock, she hadn't been in a genjutsu but her sensei had just simply vanished out of view.

Four kunai suddenly landed around the Whirlpool ninja, her eyes widening in shock as chakra shot out of them and created a kind of barrier around her. "Whirlpool Sealing Technique," the man began from his spot near the blond. He quickly ran through hand seals and focused his chakra, "Explosive Barrier!"

The kunai blew up simultaneously, encasing Red Death in a powerful explosion. Sand shot out in all different directions, creating powerful gusts of wind that spread throughout the desert.

Ayumu panted slightly before turning to the blond with a look of worry. He kneeled next to him and looked over his condition. From the looks of things most of his arm had been burnt off and he had received multiple blows around his whole body. By the way his body had shook earlier the blond would probably die if left unattended.

"Don't worry young one, I'll get you patched up," he muttered as he reached into his coat and took out a couple of seals. The man unzipped the Chunin's vest before reaching for a kunai. He quickly ripped through the white shirt the blond had bought only recently. If he was to help the Leaf ninja then he had to slap the seals into his chest and stomach in order for them to take effect on his whole body.

Upon ripping the shirt the man's eyes widened, seeing a complex seal on the ninja's stomach. A small amount of malevolent chakra came out of the seal constantly and spread around the wounds on his stomach. "A jinchuuriki…" Ayumu muttered with a sad look on his face. He took a seal and slapped it on the blond's chest. Green chakra immediately came out of it and spread around the Chunin's body.

He took hold of his other seal and set it gently on Naruto's arm, earning a light groan from the blond. Since there was a seal on the shinobi's stomach then he couldn't disturb it with another. Once again, green chakra poured out of the seal and enveloped the blond, this time focusing on his arm. Ayumu watched as the seals healed the blond, blood stopped pouring out of the jinchuuriki's arm and his skin began to heal.

'_It seems the demon inside of him is speeding the process exponentially,' _Ayumu watched as the skin on the shinobi's arm healed up and left it as if nothing happened. _'There's more than meets the eye. I'm sure his arm is not completely healed but, somehow the dangerous wounds were the first to close. How interesting…' _whatever tailed beast the blond had inside him was a powerful one.

Naruto stirred before slowly opening his eyes, widening upon recognizing the man before him. "What are you doing here?" he asked in confusion as he tried to sit up but was stopped by a stabbing pain shooting through his right arm.

"Careful," the man instructed as he helped the blond sit up.

The Chunin watched the man with a look of confusion. "So, what are you doing here?" his eyes suddenly widened as he began to stand, shaking slightly as he did so. Ayumu stood up and lend a hand to the blond, carefully putting him in a standing position. Naruto bit back a groan of pain as his eyes darted around the area, "Where's Red Death?"

"I managed to catch her in one of my attacks," Ayumu responded as he looked at the cloud of sand not too far away. "It's not enough to stop her but that's why I'm here. You can't do this by yourself kid, I'll be able to help you a bit," he smiled at the look of worry that washed over the Chunin's face, "Don't worry about me. Just because I'm old doesn't mean that I can't take care of myself."

"What happened to me?" Naruto asked as he clutched the seal tag attached to his chest. He furrowed his brows when he saw another one attached to his right arm, "What do these things do anyway?"

The man chuckled. "Those seals contain healing chakra, similar to that of medic ninja," he explained, "This seals speed up the healing process of the regular body, however, by the looks of things your body heals faster than normal. That added to the thing locked inside of you made my seals work at exponential rates."

Naruto nodded as his eyes narrowed on the cloud of sand. The fact that the man knew about the Kyuubi made him feel uneasy but he didn't have time to linger on it, for now he had to go over what he could use against Red Death. He quickly went over his conditions and knew he wouldn't last even a minute of fighting anyone, much less Red Death. His right arm was in a terrible amount of pain as was his stomach. The endless amount of chakra reserves he had were considerably low. If he didn't think of anything he would die in less than a second. He appreciated the man's help but he knew that he wouldn't last long either, he was already panting slightly and a bit of sweat trailed down his face.

The cloud of sand finally cleared to reveal a furious Red Death glaring at her foes. The gas mask was now completely gone as was her brown cloak. Her pants and shirt were burnt in different places, the many seals on her clothes were fully exposed. The only thing that remained intact was the scythe gripped tightly on her hands.

"You will pay for this old man," Mayu growled.

Ayumu suddenly chuckled, taking the other two ninja by surprise. "I'm sorry, I just find it a bit funny yet sad that the few last Uzumaki are prepared to kill each other," Mayu glared at the man while Naruto's eyes hardened on his enemy. The man cleared his throat before throwing a dismissive hand at the two before his eyes grew cold, "Don't worry though, I know that words can't change what's about to happen. You have gone too far Mayu and it's my duty to take you down."

Mayu glared at the two as sparks of electricity gathered around the blade of her scythe. "You won't be able to kill me, sensei," she began, "You're way past your prime. By the looks of things you can barely stand right now."

The man's eyes hardened on his student, she was too far away from his reach now. "Young one…" he muttered to the blond with a solemn expression on his face. Naruto threw the man a curious glance as he reached into his cloak before pulling out a couple of seal tags and handing them to the young shinobi, "I know you're not completely healed but I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he eyed the tags before stuffing them into one of the pockets on his pants and focusing on Mayu.

The man kept his gaze on their opponent, an almost look of sadness on his eyes. "I'm going to use a special attack on her," he began, "The seals I gave you will keep her and I from moving. When I give the signal I want you to use them without hesitation. This will require chakra so be careful not to waste any, got it?"

"Got it," Naruto replied with a look of cheer determination on his face.

"Then let's end this," Ayumu stated as he charged at Mayu.

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"We're almost there," Shikamaru stated as he and Gaara ran to the battlefield. The jinchuuriki had arrived with a badly wounded Kankuro on his arms. He told them that Naruto was left fighting Red Death and that he would need immediate help. The lazy Chunin had told Temari to take Kankuro back to the village while he and Gaara tried to help Naruto out.

"Good," was Gaara's reply as he hurried his pace. There were no more traces of the demonic chakra that had run through his system only minutes ago.

The Chunin looked at the large clouds of sand in the distance with a scowl on his face. "Remember that we have some traps set up. We'll make use of them when we're close enough," he explained, "When that time comes I want you to keep going while I stay behind to make sure it all goes according to plan."

The jinchuuriki nodded, keeping his view on the battle ahead. Shikamaru's eyes grew serious as he went over several plans on his head just in case their trap didn't work. With things going as they were, he was sure that they had a small chance of coming out on top. They didn't need to kill Red Death, only stall.

Right before Temari left he had instructed her to try to get a Jonin to help them get out of this alive. He knew for a fact that Red Death was way above Genin or Chunin level. For some reason she seemed to hold back in all of their encounters, something that didn't go unnoticed by his sharp eyes. If she were to get serious then they were all in big trouble unless they received the backup that was needed.

'_We're counting on you Temari,' _he figured as he continued to run through the desert.

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A powerful set of lightning bolts shot through the air at an incredible speed. Naruto watched the incoming jutsu and quickly jumped away from the area, ignoring the shot of pain that went through his whole body. As he sailed through the air he quickly ran through hand signs before letting out a cry of pain, his right arm aching horribly.

"Dammit," the Chunin growled as he landed on the sand before taking out a kunai. He quickly flung it at Mayu, inwardly smirking when she jumped away. The area behind her exploded, hurling her through the air. He quickly charged at the ninja as he took out another kunai.

"Stop kid," Ayumu ordered as he ran after the blond.

Naruto stopped dead on his tracks upon hearing the command, eyes widening when he noticed the wind going through the scythe. Mayu swung her scythe, shooting a powerful gust of wind at him. Trying to ignore the pain, the Chunin quickly ran through hand signs before being pulled away from the area by a hand gripping his left arm.

"Don't charge at her," Ayumu scolded as he pulled the Chunin away from the area. He threw a quick glance at the gust of air crashing against the sand before stopping on his tracks, letting go off Naruto, "She's not going to play around anymore. Stick to whatever long-distance attacks you have, if you get close she'll kill you within a second."

"I can't use chakra remember," Naruto argued with a frown, "How am I supposed to fight?"

The man frowned, watching his old student charging at them with her scythe on hand. "Don't worry about fighting. Just make sure to use the two seals I gave you when I give the signal," he explained, "Pay close attention."

"Got it," Naruto nodded but suddenly froze when he realized something. If he was to use two seals at the same time then he would need to attach them to two kunai and throw them at the same time, obviously. The problem with this was that he could only use one arm, using the other to throw a kunai would only be dangerous and stupid. His eyes hardened when he realized a clear solution, all he needed to do was get two clones to use the seals, but to do this he could only use one hand, "Dammit."

Ayumu charged at Mayu, reaching inside his robes before taking out a paper tag. The Whirlpool kunoichi saw this and swung her scythe once more, this time creating a large fireball that shot at her sensei. The man watched the attack get closer and closer before he raised his right hand, holding the seal on his open palm. The seal shone brightly as the attack made contact with the man's hand, before it began to absorb the attack.

"What?" Mayu growled as she gathered wind chakra on her scythe.

Ayumu smirked as he pointed the tag at the kunoichi before it shone in a yellow light. Mayu's eyes widened as a blast of yellow chakra exploded out of the seal and shot at her. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to dodge the attack she quickly swung her scythe, creating a blade of wind that headed straight for the blast of chakra. The two attacks met in a powerful collision, kicking up sand and wind alike.

Naruto shielded his eyes from the sand. It was clear that Ayumu was a lot stronger than he let on. He took a glance at the old man and frowned, he looked really tired and his legs shook from time to time. It was obvious that he was struggling to stand, if he didn't give the signal then he would need to enter the fight once more.

"Naruto!" Ayumu exclaimed as he ran at Mayu once more. The man pulled his cloak open to reveal dozens of seals attached to it, "Do it now!"

Naruto's eyes focused as he used a hand sign with his left hand, pouring all of his remaining chakra into it. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" two clones appeared at his side, both with determined expressions on their face. The Chunin felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, his chakra reserves close to non-existent, by the looks of things using only one hand to cast jutsu took a large amount of chakra. Not wasting any time, the blond quickly gave them each one of the seals he had been given.

The clones quickly ran at the two ninja, both stopping on either side of them. Both clones poured all of their chakra into the seals, making them glow a bright blue, before they both dispelled. Chains erupted from the seals and wrapped tightly around both ninja, earning a surprised look from Mayu.

"What is this?" Mayu exclaimed as she tried to break free but found that she couldn't move.

Ayumu chuckled as he closed his eyes. "I made these myself," he opened his eyes, showing a hint of sadness, "This chains not only hold us in place, but they also absorb our chakra into the seal where they're coming from. The perfect way for me to use my special seals."

Mayu's eyes glared into the man, a snarl escaping her lips. "This won't be enough to kill me," she turned to face the blond ninja. He was on his knees, panting heavily with sweat running down his face, "I know why you helped him but it won't make amends for what you did. For what you helped create. Killing yourself before she finds you won't change anything."

Ayumu gritted his teeth, his eyes glaring into his once student. "We all make mistakes," he stated with a defiant look on his face, "I will atone for mine by stopping your mindless revenge! Now we both die!"

The seals around the man's seals shone brightly before they began to burn. Mayu's eyes widened as her sensei became enveloped in bright blue chakra. The man let out a scream of pain as the chakra flared violently around the two ninja, kicking up powerful blasts of wind and sand around the area.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he struggled to stand in place before he felt a hand on his back. "Gaara?" his eyes widened in surprise, seeing the redhead look at the scene before them with a calm expression, "How'd you get back so fast?"

"That's not important," he stated as he pulled Naruto to his feet. The Sand ninja quickly formed a sand barrier around Naruto and himself just as the Ayumu's attack let out a powerful explosion.

Pieces of the sand barrier broke from the cheer force of the blast. Gaara frowned as he worked to reform the barrier around them but found it hard to do so from the amount of force pushing against it.

"It won't be able to hold on," Gaara stated as the barrier weakened. Naruto nodded with a frown.

The blond Chunin watched as the barrier cracked under the strain before finally breaking into grains of sand. As soon as it broke the two jinchuuriki were hurled in the air before landing on the sand in a painful thud.

"Dammit…" Naruto cursed as he sat up, trying his best to ignore the pain on his arm. His eyes widened when he took note of the area around him. There was a large crater where Ayumu had been with no traces of anyone around.

"What happened?" Gaara asked. The blond turned to see the Sand walking towards him with a few injuries on his body.

The Chunin frowned and gazed at the area around him. "An old man named Ayumu used an attack to take Red Death down," he scowled, looking at the aftermath of the attack, "He sacrificed himself to take her down."

Gaara crossed his arms with a monotone expression on his face. "I see," he calmly responded, "That was honorable of him."

Naruto chuckled lightly as he got back to his feet. His legs shook lightly under the strain, his right arm hurt horribly and his stomach ached horribly but other than that he was okay, not counting the chakra exhaustion he was experiencing.

"You look relieved…" came a voice behind them. Naruto froze, recognizing the voice. The two jinchuuriki turned around to see Mayu standing before them with a look of fury on her face. Her shirt and pants were burnt in several areas and she no longer held her scythe, "You will pay for this brat."

Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration. _'How the hell did she survive that?' _he screamed on his head. Mayu seemed impossible to defeat and he had run out of ideas. There was little he could do against her anymore, his chakra was next to none at the moment and he knew for a fact that Gaara didn't have much left either.

"What's wrong? Can't believe I'm alive?" Mayu mocked with a frown. She clenched her fists as she glared at the two shinobi, "You seem to have forgotten that I have many seals around my body. I managed to absorb most of the chakra from the explosion and used it to create a barrier around myself. It seems that old fool died for nothing."

'_BOOOOM'_

The area around Mayu suddenly exploded before everyone's eyes. Gaara quickly took hold of Naruto's arm and pulled him away from the area before it also broke into several explosions. Large clouds of sand filled the area, blocking everything from view.

"What was that?" Naruto asked in shock, his eyes darting around the area.

"Those were the explosives we set up," Gaara explained, "Shikamaru stayed behind to detonate them."

Naruto nodded as the cloud of sand cleared up to reveal a panting Mayu standing before them with a yellow barrier around her body. "You brats!" she exclaimed as she charged at the two ninja, fury written all over her face.

"Blade of Wind!"

Mayu's eyes widened as the air around her suddenly shifted before slicing through her torso. Blood splattered out of her chest as her eyes darted around the area before landing on the culprit. A Jonin with half of his face covered stood behind the two jinchuuriki with his right hand extended.

"Baki," Gaara deadpanned with an almost relieved expression.

Baki frowned as he looked over Mayu's condition. "It seems you kids gave her a run for her money," he began as he nodded at the two, "Good work."

Mayu gritted her teeth. There was no way that she could take on a Jonin at her current state. Large part of her chakra reserves were gone, she had a few wounds on her body and she was clearly outnumbered. If she was to fight now it would surely result in her death.

"Damn…" she muttered as she put a hand on her left arm, pouring chakra into a seal. She turned to Naruto with a frown on her face, "We will meet again and when we do I'll make sure to kill you. I might have missed my chance since I didn't fight seriously but there will be more. Unlike Ayumu, I won't care if she finds out I killed you."

Before anyone could move Mayu suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving no trail of her whereabouts. "Get back to the village, you're mission is over," Baki informed with a frown on his face. "I'll go look for her. She couldn't have gone far," with that the man ran away from the area.

"I guess we're done," Naruto declared with a sigh of relief. This mission had been way over their capabilities, it was lucky that they had survived, "Let's get going."

Gaara nodded as the two began to trek back to the Sand village with the blond struggling to walk, wincing with each step he took. He suddenly felt an arm wrap around his ribs and the other taking hold of his left arm.

"You're too hurt to walk all the way back to the village," Gaara deadpanned as he helped the Chunin walk.

Naruto chuckled as the two continued to walk. "Thank you," he replied. As things were, he knew that the Sand jinchuuriki was serious about trying to change. He was glad that he was trying, he had no doubt that they would be great friends. The Chunin suddenly sighed out with a weary expression on his face, "I could really go for some ramen right now."

"Ramen?" Gaara muttered with a confused look on his face.

The blond gasped in shock, what he was hearing was clearly some kind of sick depraved joke. "You've never heard of ramen?" much to Naruto's shock, Gaara shook his head. "That's going to change soon," he declared with a grin on his face, "Next time you come to Konoha I'll take you to Ichiraku's. I'll invite Ino too, it'll be great. You haven't met her, have you?"

"I believe I haven't," the Sand ninja responded with a thoughtful look on his face, "Is she one of your precious people?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah…" he admitted, "She accepted me for who I am and what I hold inside. I'll always protect her no matter what."

Gaara nodded before his eyes caught sight of someone walking towards them. He tensed for a moment before noticing that it was Shikamaru with his hands in his pockets. Before he could tell the blond he suddenly felt him go limp.

The Sand ninja quickly turned to the blond to see that he had fallen asleep. "Lucky guy," Shikamaru sighed as he approached the two. He moved next to the blond and wrapped an arm around his left ribs, helping Gaara with the weight, "We're going back to the village right?"

"Yes," the jinchuuriki responded with a nod, "According to Baki, our mission is over now."

Shikamaru nodded as the two conscious shinobi began to walk once more. Their mission was apparently over and the lazy Chunin couldn't be happier. The mission had been a major pain in the ass, if it hadn't been for the Sand Jonin Temari had called then they would surely be dead at the moment.

He sighed, it was too troublesome to think of such things. If it hadn't happen then he wouldn't linger on it, what was the point? For now, all he could do is think of getting back to the village. An almost wistful expression graced his face as he let out a yawn.

"It's finally over," he muttered with a frown.

**Ch. 31 End**

**This is it for this chapter. A lot longer than usual since I really wanted to end the fight scenes on this chapter. Like I said before, next chapter might come out early so pay close attention guys. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	32. A New Kind of Training

**They called me crazy. They mocked me. They said that I wouldn't be able to do it but here is the next chapter just like I said! Anyway, thanks to all of those who took the time to review, it's good to hear from you guys. Before we begin I would like to make it clear that Ayumu (old man that helped Naruto) was also from the Whirlpool village. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Rippling Sand Arc**_

**Ch. 32 A New Kind of Training**

Naruto stirred from his sleep, opening his eyes slowly before letting out a yawn. He gazed around the room he was currently in with a small frown on his face, by the looks of things he was in a hospital. The room was a standard hospital room but with sandy brown walls. There was the usual window next to his bed but this time it had a clear view of the vast desert. From what he could see, the sun was high in the sky which meant that it was around noon.

He took a look at his body and shook his head with a scowl. His right arm was heavily bandaged as was his stomach. The blond let out an irritated sigh before sitting up, gritting his teeth at the sore feeling on his ribs. A part of him had almost forgotten that he had probably broken some on his fight with Sasuke, he was probably right if the bandages around his stomach were any indication.

"You're awake," came a feminine voice from the door. Naruto turned his head to see a nurse walk into the room with a clipboard on hand, "Ninja really are tough, a normal person with your kind of injuries wouldn't be able to heal at the same time you did."

"Right…" Naruto muttered a little awkwardly.

The nurse nodded as she ran over things on her clipboard before setting it down with a smile on her face. "Well, according to what we were told you are well enough to return to your village," she began. The blond instantly sighed in relief, it wasn't as if he hated the place but he was already sweating due to the heat, "Just try to take it easy on your way back, some of your wounds were internal and it is advised that you go check-up at Konoha's hospital just in case some of the wounds open."

Naruto nodded as he moved to the edge of the bed, letting his feet touch the floor. "I got it," he assured as he stood up and motioned for the white robe he now wore, "Where are my other clothes?"

"They should be in the bathroom," the nurse said, pointing at a wooden door. "Once you are ready you have to go talk to the receptionist so that she can check you out," she nodded one more time before leaving the room.

Naruto frowned as soon as the nurse left. When he had fainted on his way back to the village he had gained the memories of the clones he had left with Sasuke. The clones had carried the Uchiha to the hospital. The staff saw his condition and instantly took him to the emergency room and that was when they were dispelled.

"I better check on Sasuke as soon as I'm out of here," Naruto muttered as he entered the bathroom. It was a small room with the standard utilities and even a shower, he idly wondered if the hospital had been an inn before but dismissed those thoughts and looked for his clothes. He found his clothes folded neatly on a small table and walked over to them. Taking them in hand he prepared to put them on before he took note of the shirt, "Damn I forgot about it."

The shirt was ripped cleanly in half with stains of blood on the right side with the right sleeve completely burnt off. With a frown he took hold of his Chunin vest and reached into one of the pockets, taking out a scroll, "This will be a long day."

* * *

Ino panted as she stood in front of Tsunade with a trail of sweat running down her face. It had been around four hours of non-stop physical training. The older kunoichi had stated that stamina was a determining factor when it came to being a shinobi and medic. If one didn't have enough reserves then they were no good in the field.

"Come at me again Ino," Tsunade ordered with a smirk on her face. The Genin nodded before rushing in. Since ninjutsu and weapons were restricted, she had to depend on her taijutsu alone.

Once in range, Ino punched at Tsunade with her right fist. The medic easily parried the attack by knocking the arm away with a jab, leaving the younger kunoichi exposed. Without warning, the medic delivered a punch to the Genin's stomach.

Ino's eyes widened in pain before she clutched her stomach and doubled over in pain. "Don't lose sight of the enemy," Tsunade scolded. The kunoichi raised her head to see a closed fist in front of her face. "That will get you killed out there," with that she flicked her index finger forward, making contact with her student's forehead.

The Genin was instantly thrown away by the force of the flick. She fell hard against the ground and let out a gasp of pain. Tsunade had been serious when she said that their training would be tough. A groan escaped Ino's lips as she tried to sit up but stopped when seeing an extended hand.

"That will be it for sparring today," Tsunade stated as she pulled Ino to her feet. She looked over her student's condition with her trained eyes and found not much wrong with her, "We will be starting a new exercise today."

Ino raised a brow in interest. "What kind of exercise..?" her voice held a bit of fear, which didn't go unnoticed by her master, seeing as how she smirked.

Tsunade took a scroll out of her pants pocket. "This will be your first practice on medical jutsu," she began as she set the scroll on the ground. The medic sat on the ground, motioning her apprentice to do the same, "I want you to focus your chakra like the book read. This exercise's only purpose is to give you a look into what you'll be doing as a medic. It won't be until a few days that you'll be able to complete it."

Ino nodded with an exited smile. "I'm ready," she declared, watching the scroll intently. Her master nodded and opened the scroll, revealing a single seal before pouring chakra into it. With a small cloud of smoke a dead fish appeared before both kunoichi, "What is this?"

"This will be what you'll be doing," Tsunade informed with a firm nod, "The purpose of this exercise is to revive the fish but today you'll only be getting a feel of what you'll be doing."

"I'm supposed to touch that?" Ino shrieked in disgust, inching away from the dead fish.

Tsunade's right eye twitched. "Of course you are!" she replied, "A medic isn't supposed to be disgusted by patients!"

"This isn't a patient! It's a fish! A dead stinky fish!" the Genin yelled back with a glare.

"This is supposed to give you a grasp of what medical jutsu is, so… heal the damned fish!" Tsunade glared at her student with her teeth grit in anger.

Ino muttered something under her breath before inching closer to the fish. "Fine," she set both hands over the fish and focused her chakra. A light green glow emitted from her hands and spread around the fish's body.

Tsunade watched the chakra intently, it would waver and turn back to its regular blue color constantly but it was expected. It had only been a day of training so it was obvious that she wouldn't be able to heal the fish in the slightest. The sole purpose of this exercise was to see where her student stood when it came to chakra control and she wasn't disappointed.

She noticed the disgusted yet determined expression on her student's face. The medic couldn't help but laugh lightly at that, her determination was pulling her through this. By the looks of things her student still needed some time until she could start her medical training. As things stood she could probably handle the training in a week but there was no reason in rushing her training, she wasn't very busy in the hospital and had a lot of free time which wouldn't be good news for her student.

* * *

Naruto walked to the receptionist's desk with a scowl on his face. He had been forced to wear his regular long-sleeved black shirt and dark blue pants since his other clothes had been ruined. It had been quite a task since he only had use of once hand but in the end he managed, though not in the best of moods. And to top it all off the heat was killing him, the Chunin vest didn't make things any better when it came to cooling his body, which is why he decided to leave it open instead of zipped up.

"Excuse me but do you know where I can find Sasuke Uchiha?" he asked the receptionist.

"It'll be just a moment," the receptionist answered as she looked through a piece of paper on her desk. She slid her index finger around the paper until finally stopping with a polite smile on her face, "The patient is on the hall to the right on the third door to the right."

"Thanks," Naruto muttered as he looked around the building. The room he was currently in had a large hallway opposite of the receptionist desk and two halls on either side of the desk, there were a few seats here and there and a few tables around them.

"Excuse me sir," the receptionist called with a nervous smile on her face. Naruto raised a brow and turned to the lady behind the desk, "Could you get your other ninja friend? He's taking up a bed and we don't want to disturb him."

The Chunin sighed. "Where is he?" the receptionist pointed at a door with a polite smile. He nodded and walked to the room with a small grin on his face, he had an idea of who it was.

He entered the room and let out a chuckle. Shikamaru was sprawled over the hospital bed, snoring loudly with a bit of drool in the corner of his mouth.

"Hey Shikamaru," Naruto called with a grin. The lazy Chunin grunted in response, stirring from his sleep, "You're taking up space here. They have other people that need the room, get up already."

Shikamaru sighed loudly before sitting up with a frown on his face. "Damn, why can't I just have a few hours of rest?" the Chunin got off the bed and let out a yawn, "Looks like you're all better." Naruto raised his right arm, showing the cast taking up most of his arm. The shadow-user shrugged, "At least you're walking."

The blond sighed before running his left hand though his hair. "Anyway, I think we might be able to go back to Konoha today," he began with a thoughtful expression, "That Jonin went after Red Death and said that we were done. We have to report to the council but, even if they ask, we're not taking that mission again. She's too strong us, if we go, then we'll only add to the body count."

Shikamaru shook his head with a grim look on his face. "I'm not sure meeting the council would be a good idea," he scratched his head and closed his eyes, "The reason why Temari and I couldn't join the fight was because the council hired a mercenary to kill us." He watched as Naruto's eyes widened before raising a hand to stop him from interrupting, "We killed him without much trouble, he didn't have any ninja training by the look of things and it was easy to catch him in a genjutsu."

"What do you think we should do?" the blond asked with a frown.

"Get out of here as soon as possible," Shikamaru responded, "Staying here will only make us sitting ducks for the council. Who knows? They might even use actual shinobi this time and we aren't in a condition where we can fight."

"Right," he agreed with a solemn look.

The lazy Chunin scowled and put on a thoughtful expression. "Where's Sasuke anyway?" Naruto tensed under the question, "The last time I saw him he was with you and if I remember correctly he wasn't with you and Gaara when you were coming back here."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "He's here," Shikamaru raised a brow before the blond continued, "He attacked me yesterday and I was forced to fight him. I managed to beat him but left him in a bad state."

"The Hokage needs to hear this," the lazy Chunin deadpanned in an irritated tone. Seeing the blond's shocked expression, he continued, "If we don't tell him then they'll blame you for whatever injuries you gave him. Besides, if he attacked you then who's to say he won't attack someone else. I know it's a pain in the ass but we still have to tell the Hokage."

Naruto looked unsure for a second before letting out a sigh, "You're right."

* * *

Chiyo entered the council's meeting room. Upon entering she took note of the odd looks she received from the members of the council. It was obvious that they had no idea as to why they had been called to a meeting at such short notice.

"Why have you summoned us Chiyo?" a councilmen asked. He had a wrinkled face with a head full of short gray hair.

Another member of the council, this time an old woman, rested her elbows on the table with a serious look on her wrinkled face. "I take it what you have to say is important," she began. She cast a look at the members of the council before settling her eyes back on Chiyo, "Is it about the team of Konoha shinobi?"

Chiyo nodded with a frown on her face. "I was opposed to the idea in the first place. Having a mercenary kill the team would only anger Konoha," she argued, "We are in times of crisis and a war is the last thing we need."

"If that's why you have come here, then you're just wasting your time," another councilman responded with venom in his voice, "The mercenary has already been sent."

"That's where you're wrong," Chiyo informed with a smirk on her face, "The Leaf shinobi arrived at the village a few hours ago. All of them safe and sound."

"What?" the councilwoman gasped.

Chiyo shook her head while emitting a sigh. "Did you really think that a mercenary could take on a ninja? That's preposterous," she reached into her robes and took out a single scroll, "This just proves that a ninja village should not be run by civilians that have no idea how things really work."

"What are you saying?" a councilman growled, clenching his fits in anger.

"Not what I'm saying…" Chiyo began as she opened the scroll and placed it on the table, showing the contents to the council members. Inside of the scroll were dozens of signatures from the most powerful people in the village, "It's what they're saying."

"This is mutiny!" a councilman snapped, bolting from his seat, "You have gone against the council!"

Chiyo frowned. "I have the support of the village and the trust of our shinobi," she responded before turning her back on them and making her way to the door. "Don't expect to remain as members of the council. I will replace you all with people who know how things work," she stated without turning around, "And consider your plan to kill the Leaf shinobi gone. I will not allow it."

With that Chiyo left the room, leaving a group of angry ex-council members behind.

* * *

"What did you do to him?" Shikamaru sighed out.

"I had no choice," Naruto responded with hardened eyes, "He put the entire mission in danger and he attacked me out of nowhere. Before I knew what happened, my blade was going through his eye."

Shikamaru let out another sigh. In front of him lay Sasuke with many bandages around his right eye, or where it was supposed to be. According to what the nurse said, he had lost his right eye since it had been damaged beyond repair. The Uchiha hadn't woken up yet, but the lazy Chunin was sure that things would get bad when he did.

'_This is bad…' _the shadow-user concluded. When the Konoha council caught wind of what happened to Sasuke's eye they would flip. The council treasured the sharingan and finding out that they were 'minus' one would bring nothing but trouble.

He sighed once more before throwing Naruto a glance. "We'll settle this later," he concluded, not feeling like going over such troublesome thoughts at the moment, "For now we have to leave. Staying here is too dangerous."

"Right," Naruto nodded before setting his eyes on Sasuke's unconscious form, "What are we going to do with him. When he finds out what happened, he'll go nuts."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. Their teammate would surely attack them as soon as he woke up with one less eye. "Don't you have some kind of seal to help us?" he asked in a hopeful tone, he really didn't want to put up with more trouble than what was needed.

The blond let out a sigh before shaking his head. "I'm not that good with seals yet," he explained, "If I really want to get something to keep him from moving or waking up, I'll need a few hours in the least."

"Dammit," the lazy Chunin cursed. His eyes rested on Sasuke as he tried to think of a plan. They could try genjutsu but neither he nor Naruto knew any. Another choice would be to use his shadow possession but he wouldn't be able to keep it up for the whole trip back. This was way too much trouble for him.

"This might sound bad," Naruto suddenly muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. The lazy Chunin turned his attention to the blond, "But why don't we just tie him up and just carry him back to the village. Who knows? He might not even wake up until we get there."

"That would be too drastic…" Shikamaru muttered before his eyes snapped open, "I got it."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in a show of confusion. "Then what are we doing?" he asked, "Cause I don't have any more ideas."

"Just leave it to me." Shikamaru smirked.

* * *

Naruto, Shikamaru and Sasuke walked through the Sand village, making their way to the gate that would lead them out of there. The blond Chunin walked in front of the group with a nervous smile, behind him walked the lazy Chunin with a scowl on his face and the Uchiha walked behind them with his left eye closed and his mouth opened slightly.

'_This is stupid,' _the blond thought as they neared the village's gate. Not only was their idea stupid but it was just bad, he was sure that if Sakura found out what they were doing to Sasuke she would punch him through a house.

Shikamaru kept his eyes open for any sort of trouble. The streets were crowded and lively, merchants declaring what they sold in an attempt to sell their products while people engaged in conversations. By some sort of miracle, nobody paid them much attention. However, their true test would come when they passed by the gate. If the ninja there found out what he was doing then they would think that they were up to something.

"What are you doing?" a monotone voice suddenly asked. The three Leaf shinobi stopped dead on their tracks with Sasuke letting out a snore. Behind them stood Gaara with his arms crossed and an almost curious expression on his face, "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered with a nervous grin.

Gaara nodded before setting his eyes on Sasuke. "Why do you have him under a jutsu?" he asked, making the two ninja flinch slightly, "You have him under your shadow jutsu, correct?"

Shikamaru looked down to the shadow connecting him and Sasuke before looking back at the Sand ninja. "We have to leave now but he hadn't woken up yet," he explained, "This is the only way to take him back to the Leaf. The council apparently wants us dead so we're keeping a low profile."

"I understand," the Sand jinchuuriki responded, "Allow me to help you."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "You'll help us?" he muttered in disbelief, earning a nod from Gaara, "Why would you do that?"

"Why shouldn't I help you?" Gaara responded before walking towards the two, "You have done nothing wrong and yet the council wants you dead. As of now my alliance isn't with the Sand but with the people I consider friends. That's why I don't need a reason to help."

"That isn't necessary," came another voice, this time a feminine one. The shinobi turned to see Chiyo walking towards them with a serious look on her face.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "You were with the council during the mission briefing," he stated, moving a hand to his kunai pouch, "What are you doing here?"

The old lady chuckled and raised a hand to ease the ninja. "Don't worry, I assure you that I'm not here to attack you. Did you think an old lady like me could do that?" she responded in a light tone, "If you don't trust me then that means that you encountered the mercenary they sent after you."

"What if we did?" Naruto uttered with narrowed eyes.

"Then that would mean that you know that the council planned to kill you," Chiyo kept her tone light, trying to ease the three ninja in front of her, "Don't worry about that anymore. I personally stopped any further plans they might have had."

"Why did they even target us in the first place?" Shikamaru asked in an irritated tone, "They were the ones that sent for us."

Chiyo nodded with a serious look on her face. "The council was being run by civilians, which means that they knew little of how the shinobi world is," she let out a sigh before continuing, "Although they asked for you, they thought it'd be dangerous if you set foot in the village which is why they planned to kill you. It wasn't until today that I gathered the necessary support to override their decision. Now we're in a process to take them out of the council for good."

"I understand," Shikamaru nodded, "But that doesn't mean that we won't tell the Hokage. We'll tell him that you're changing up the council "

"Very well," Chiyo said before leaving the group. She had served her purpose. After leaving the council she went looking for the ninja and found them easily since blond hair was easy to spot.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, finding the situation completely exhausting. "Let's get going Shikamaru," he said as the two ninja prepared to leave. The blond turned to Gaara and broke into a grin, "We'll see you later Gaara. Drop by Konoha any time so we can go to Ichiraku's."

Gaara simply nodded as Shikamaru released his jutsu and set Sasuke on his back. The two Leaf ninja gave a small wave before walking to the gate.

* * *

Ino gave out a loud sigh as she walked back to her home. The sun was setting and the level of people around the street was moderate which was a good thing because she had no energy to dodge through the large crowds that would usually flood the streets. Her training had intensified as the day dragged on. What started as sparring and trying to heal a fish turned into dodging Tsunade's attacks and doing a number of chakra control exercises just in case her current control wasn't enough.

Her body was sore and her legs felt numb. She knew that she would be feeling it in the morning. The only good thing about the day was that Tsunade had given her the next day off, meaning that she could rest and meet her Team, which right now consisted only of Asuma and Choji until Shikamaru got back from his mission. It didn't hit her until now but her team seemed too small without the shadow-user and Naruto, who had become a constant visitor.

Thinking about the blond made her smile. She couldn't wait for him to get back and tell him all of the things that have been going on. From starting her training with Tsunade to Sakura learning of their relationship. Another thing she would need to tell him is that she had asked her parents to have dinner with him again, though her mom had been the only one to agree.

A smile graced her face as she thought of Naruto's reaction to the dinner invitation. He was intimidated by her dad and tried to avoid doing anything stupid in front of him which mostly consisted of him babbling like an idiot from time to time. She knew that he acted hesitant and a little afraid when it came to this invitations but in reality he was happy to have dinner with a family, she could see it in his eyes.

'_Come back soon Naruto,' _her cheeks reddened as she continued to walk.

**Ch. 32 End **

**That's it for this chapter folks. Next chapters will come out in their usual schedules and I won't have a quick chapter for a while, sorry. Anyway, this was the last chapter of the 'Rippling Sand' arc. It was a little long but it got its point across. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	33. Finally Home

**Alright guys, here's the next chapter. Sorry that it took so long but I'm having major computer problems. This chapter will tie up all the loose ends of the last arc and begin the last arc of the story. Thanks to all of those who reviewed and of course, those of you who put this story in their favorites and alerts. We're almost done guys! **

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

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**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 33 Finally Home**

Stars filled the sky of the vast forest that lead to Konoha. Naruto, Shikamaru and a Naruto clone carrying Sasuke walked through the dirt road that would lead them home. It had been hours since they had left the Sand village and they were glad to make it to a cooler environment. They were close to the village, about half a day away if they didn't make any stops. Luckily Sasuke hadn't woken up yet, which relieved them of what would be a major problem.

As soon as they had left the Sand village, Shikamaru had tied Sasuke up with several pieces of wire. After that Naruto had taken a few minutes to make a single clone, not having the use of his right hand made the task very difficult. Once the clone carried the Uchiha, the two Chunin began their trek back to the Leaf village.

The trip had been a long one and it wasn't over yet. Since Naruto was still sore from the fight, the group had been forced to travel in a slow pace which meant that they were the bait of several bandits that thankfully hadn't shown up. This didn't mean that they would let their guard down, they still kept a clear view of the area to ensure that nobody would suddenly jump out and attack them. Roads between villages were dangerous after all.

Shikamaru gazed at the star-filled dark sky. The breeze was cool against his skin and he couldn't help but let out a yawn, "We should set up camp and call it a night."

Naruto turned to his teammate, a bit taken off by the sudden statement. "Yeah, it's kind of late," he agreed as his eyes took in the area around him. They were in a small clearing with many tall trees and patches of dead grass, "I guess we could camp here."

The lazy Chunin nodded before looking at the clone carrying Sasuke on its back. "Let's take turns keeping watch," he began, "There's always the possibility of bandits popping out. We can't let them get the drop on us or we're as good as dead."

"Having to keep an eye out for Sasuke doesn't help much either…" Naruto muttered with a frown on his face. The blond took a scroll out of his vest, "Who's taking the first watch?"

Shikamaru watched as Naruto poured chakra into the scroll before letting out a sigh. "I'll keep the first watch since you're the one that needs the most rest," he decided as a small cloud of smoke covered the scroll on the blond's left hand. The smoke cleared to reveal a dark orange sleeping bag, making the shadow-user let out an annoyed groan, "Why did you ask who was taking the first watch if you were already taking out your sleeping bag?" The blond in question simply broke into a grin before laying down on his sleeping bag, "Troublesome blond. You're starting to act like Ino, a thing that this world doesn't need."

Naruto chuckled as he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. His mind wondered to the events that had taken place in the last few days. Kiba going into a coma, his fight with Sasuke, the death of Ayumu, Kankuro's injuries and finally, the fight with Red Death. Things weren't looking good so far, the mission had been a failure and many people had gotten hurt. He couldn't help but place a bit of blame on his leading skills, maybe if he had done some things differently nobody would be hurt.

The Chunin felt himself losing consciousness as he went over his thoughts. It hadn't really been his fault, the mission had just been too dangerous for them. He remembered Kakashi's words, 'those who break the rules are scum but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.' Thinking about those words calmed him down, he hadn't abandoned his comrades, in fact he made sure that they returned home alive.

With that final thought the blond fell asleep, not blaming himself for how bad the mission went. That part of him was gone now. He wouldn't blame himself, he would just get stronger and make sure it doesn't happen again.

* * *

The sun peeked in the horizon of the Hidden Leaf village. People walked through the streets to start their daily activities. Such was the case of Ino who carried a few bags of seeds with a pout on her face. It had been her day off from Tsunade's training and she had planned to sleep in, but that had gone down the drain when her mom had barged into her room so that she could run an errand.

'_Why wake me up early today?' _Ino's pout deepened as she made her way through the streets. Her body was sore from all the training and she had a light headache due to the short amount of sleep she had gotten.

"Ino!" a familiar voice called out. The kunoichi turned around to see Sakura walking towards her.

"What's wrong forehead?" Ino cocked her head to the side with a confused look on her face.

"I just heard something," she stated, her expression turning to one of worry. The blonde kunoichi raised a brow at this, "Is it true that Naruto and Sasuke went out on a mission together?"

Ino put on a thoughtful expression. She hadn't heard much about Naruto's mission since he had left on short notice without having a lot of time to say bye. He hadn't said anything about who he went with but she guessed that going with Sasuke was possible since they were teammates.

"I knew that Naruto went on a mission but I didn't hear with who…" she informed with a light frown, not knowing why Sakura appeared to be worried, "Why do you look so worried anyway? It's not like they're strangers that haven't worked together before."

Sakura shook her head. "It's not that. I just don't trust Naruto that much," she admitted before flinching under Ino's harsh glare. She gulped before continuing, "I mean, he just became a Chunin and I don't think that he should be leading a team."

"He's a good squad leader," Ino snapped, taking Sakura by surprise. The blonde kunoichi caught herself and took a breath to control herself. She hated it whenever someone talked bad about Naruto, as if he hadn't had enough when he was a kid, "He was a leader on my last mission and everything came out okay. Besides, he's pretty serious when it comes to missions."

"Right…" Sakura muttered, not completely convinced. It wasn't that she didn't trust Naruto's abilities, it was his lack of responsibility that got her worried. Her teammates were out on a mission with one of them, a fresh Chunin, being the squad leader. She didn't think that there was anything wrong with worrying over them.

Ino scowled as she crossed her arms. "Anything else you want?" she asked in a harsher tone than intended. She caught herself and let out a sigh before smiling lightly. "It's just that I have to take these home," she motioned at the bags on her hands, "My mom wants to grow these in the garden."

The pink haired kunoichi smiled as an idea struck her. "Do you mind if I help you with the bags," she offered. Ino hesitantly gave her one of the bags, looking at her oddly. Sakura caught the look and frowned, "Hey, I just haven't seen your mom in a while and thought it would be polite to go and say hi."

The Yamanaka smiled and led the way. It had been a while, years even, since she had spent time with Sakura. They had been good friends but allowed a childish crush to break them apart. But now all had changed, she was happy with Naruto and there was nothing to keep her friendship with Sakura from healing.

Ino smiled as she kept on walking, now with Sakura trailing along. She was glad that the pink haired kunoichi had been around. Her arms were really sore and it was great to have someone to carry some of the bags for her, at least until Naruto got back, that job was his after all.

* * *

Danzo was a calculating man. He always planned ahead of time and knew to be patient, which was why he still pursued the title of Hokage. That title would bring him more power to protect the village and mold it to his liking. As things stood, the village was too peaceful, something that made the ninja weak and unaccustomed to war. If things stayed like they were then any other hidden village could easily destroy them, it was a good thing that he had his Root to fight back since he couldn't rely on other ninja.

The elder currently sat on the empty council room. It was a large room with few paintings on its wall and a large circular table where all the members sat. There was a larger chair facing the door, which was where the Hokage would sit during meetings. This is where he currently sat, his elbows resting on the table, going over the information he had received.

Apparently, the jinchuuriki was in a relationship with the Yamanaka clan heir. He found this to be unacceptable but knew not to do anything against it. Unlike his informant on the matter, the Haruno council member, he wouldn't make his displeasure known, not yet anyway. By the looks of things, Inoichi approved which meant that other clan heads wouldn't mind either, except for the Hyuuga if he swayed them a little bit. Of course the Hokage would also approve of them, the man had a soft spot for the brat, which meant that trying to sway the council was out of the question.

The Konoha elder narrowed his eyes as he thought of a way to make the situation favor him. In reality he couldn't care less about the relationship of the two kids, in fact he didn't care about them in general. What he cared about was the jinchuuriki, the same that had been out of his reach before. He remember setting everything up so that he could make the brat into one of his Root ninja but it had failed after the Third had refused the idea and ordered the council to do the same, not leaving room for any oppositions.

He hadn't given up on controlling the Kyuubi, much like he hadn't given up on being Hokage. The jinchuuriki was still young and could be easily manipulated it he played his cards right. Things like relationships, responsibility and pride were the best things to use if attempting to take control of someone. This wouldn't happen overnight of course, he would need to make his move slowly.

The elder rose from his chair, knowing what needed to be done. He would attempt to control the Kyuubi by using the relationship against him. To do this he would need his Root, having someone find out would result in a bad outcome. He would try to get his ninja on missions with the brat, this way they could gain his trust and sway his mind towards what he wanted.

'_The Kyuubi will be under my control,' _he thought as he made his way to the door. This time nobody would stop him. Once the brat was under his control then he would bury his identity, probably fake his dead if need be.

'_Fake the jinchuuriki's death…' _Danzou mused, remembering the night of the Kyuubi attack. He smirked as he recalled a memory. He had bred a large amount of hate that day. Hate that he knew wouldn't disappear over the years, of this he was sure. He assumed that she would be back for revenge one day but he wasn't too worried about it, when the time came his Root would take her down. To think that it all happened because of faking its death. An almost chuckle escaped his lips, "It wouldn't be the first time I've faked the Kyuubi's death…"

With that the elder left the council room, calculating his next move.

* * *

"Calm down already!" a Naruto clone exclaimed at the trashing teen on his back.

Sasuke struggled against the ninja wire that held him in place. "Why are there bandages on my eye? What happened Naruto?" he roared in rage. He glared at the blond walking ahead. For some reason he hadn't spoken to him yet and refused to answer any of his questions, the main one being why there were bandages all around his right eye, "Answer me!"

Shikamaru sighed as he dug his hands into his pockets. "Just take it easy already," he pleaded with an annoyed expression on his face. Sasuke had woken up only a few hours ago and he had yet to shut up. The lazy Chunin was thoroughly pissed by this and was starting to get a headache. He wondered how long it would be until they reached Konoha since he hadn't been able to keep track of time.

"How much longer till we get there?" Shikamaru asked the blond walking ahead of them. He noticed that Sasuke stopped his struggling to pay attention to what the other Chunin had to say. The shadow-user guessed that he wanted to get home as much as they did.

"We should be close now," Naruto began. He turned to his two teammates, his eyes lingering on the clone carrying Sasuke on its back before turning to his fellow Chunin. "Do you mind carrying Sasuke for a while?" he asked Shikamaru, who instantly scowled at the idea of work. "It's just so the clone can run up ahead and tell us how much longer it will take to get home," he quickly added.

"Fine," Shikamaru sighed out. He really wanted to know how much closer they were to home after a whole day of traveling, anything to get Sasuke to stop yelling. They had gotten up early in the morning, so early in fact that it it had been dark out. With the threat of bandits and missing ninja, they had decided on leaving only a few minutes after waking up.

The lazy Chunin walked over to the clone, inwardly smirking when it simply dropped Sasuke off its back before leaping away from the area. Much to Sasuke's rage, Shikamaru hoisted him on his back before walking over to Naruto.

"He'd better get back quickly," the Nara muttered, sending a glare at the struggling Uchiha on his back.

Naruto grinned weakly before turning back to the road ahead. The real reason why he had sent the clone to look ahead was because he hadn't been keeping track of time either. All he knew was that it was getting late, the sun was setting after all, and that they should be a lot closer to Konoha since they had been walking all day.

The blond glared at the cast wrapped around his right arm. If he hadn't been hurt then they would be at the village already, instead they were stuck walking around the forest for two whole days. And the worst thing of all was that he had only eaten crappy food for the last few days since he hadn't had the time to look for any ramen at the Sand village. All in all, he hated this mission with a passion, he was glad that they were done with it.

The clone's memory suddenly hit Naruto, making him smile instantly. He turned to his teammates with the smile never leaving his face. "We're not that far away," he declared with a laugh, "It should only take us about an hour to get back home." Shikamaru let out a sigh of relief while Sasuke suppressed a grin, "Let's get going already."

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he watched Naruto walk ahead of them. "Wait, who's going to carry Sasuke?" getting no response from the blond, the lazy Chunin groaned. He was stuck with carrying Sasuke, what did he do to deserve this?

* * *

The two Chunin currently staying on guard duty were struck by an unusual sight. Two Chunin walked to the village and, since it's the middle of the night, had an unearthly glow around them. If that wasn't odd enough, then the clone carrying another ninja certainly did it.

One of the Chunin approached the team of ninja, carrying a look of confusion on his face. "What's going on here?" it wasn't until now that he took notice of the bad state the ninja were in. One of them had a cast around his right arm, another looked as if he hadn't had an ounce of sleep and finally the last Uchiha, Sasuke, had bandages covering his right eye. This could not be good.

The Chunin in current guard duty turned to his partner and gave him a nod, just as Shikamaru began to talk. "We just got back from our mission in the Sand village," the shadow-user put a hand on the back of his neck before letting out a frustrated sigh, "One of our ninja turned on us and we had to tie him up."

Naruto watched the older Chunin nod. He looked familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen him. The man had black hair sticking out of the headband he wore as a bandanna. The other man had spiky black hair and had a white piece of cloth covering part of his nose and cheeks.

"Alright," the older Chunin answered before waving his hand in the air. In an instant, a group of ninja appeared around them, "Take the ninja the blond is carrying to the hospital, he looks pretty banged up." The ninja nodded and took the trashing Sasuke off the clone's shoulders before disappearing in clouds of smoke, "You don't have to worry about him now. We'll report his actions to the Hokage and make sure he's punished for it."

"Thanks for your help. I'll go give the Hokage our mission report later," Shikamaru stated.

The ninja wearing the bandanna smiled. "Don't worry about it," he waved off. "I'm Izumo Kamizuki," he introduced before motioning to the other Chunin that was currently writing something into a piece of paper, "That's Kotetsu Hagane over there. It was nice to meet you guys."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Naruto Uzumaki and that's Shikamaru," Naruto answered with a weary smile before turning to his remaining clone, "Do you think you can keep going?" The clone simply nodded. The blond inwardly let out a sigh of relief, it was much easier when his clones kept quiet, "Do you think you can get me some ramen. I"m really hungry." The clone nodded before setting off without a word, his steps a little shaky.

Shikamaru and the older Chunin watched the clone run into the village before suddenly bursting in a cloud of smoke. The two turned to see Naruto fall to his knees, panting heavily.

"You alright?" Shikamaru asked, kneeling next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto's vision grew blurry as he gave a nod. "I just need some rest…" he slurred, his head pounding and his stomach burning. He shut his eyes in an attempt to lessen his pain but it only made it worse. His eyes opened to see a couple of blurs rushing at him before his whole world went blank.

* * *

He found himself inside of his mind once again. The familiar sound of dripping water greeted his ears as his eyes darted around the dark sewer that was his mind. With no idea of why exactly he was here, he decided on speaking with the Kyuubi. A conversation with the damned demon was never a good thing but it probably knew why he was here at the moment.

Naruto walked through the empty halls of his mind, the water splashing with each step. He heard a low rumbling echo throughout the area and knew that he was getting close. Turning one more corner of the sewers he was greeted with the Kyuubi's giant smirking face, rage burning on his eyes as usual.

"Why am I here fox?" the blond spat in anger, much to the amusement of the demon.

"**You have managed to put me in danger again. You damned brat," **the Kyuubi growled.

Naruto's eyes narrowed on the fox, "What the hell are you talking about? I haven't done anything."

The demon fox growled. **"You fool!" **it roared in rage, **"You got captured by the enemy. Because of that, there's something very wrong in your body."**

"Something wrong?" the blond muttered with wide eyes. How could he have forgotten? He had been captured by Red Death, a sealing master, she could have put seals on his body or changed something on his seal without him knowing.

"**Loosen up the seal," **the Kyuubi suggested, his smirk widening, **"I will fix what you have caused in an instant. I'm the strongest being in the universe, it will be easy for me."**

Naruto's eyes narrowed on the fox. "Do you think I'm that stupid? As soon as I loosen the seal you'll break out," he glared at the demon, "I don't need your help. I'll find a way to fix this on my own."

"**You will pay for having me here brat," **the fox spat in hatred, **"As soon as I have control of you I'll hurt those closest to you. I'll bring them immeasurable pain before killing them with your own two hands. You won't be able to stop me!" **

Naruto glared at the fox before turning his back on it and beginning to walk away before turning around and glaring at the fox one last time. "You've probably heard this line before but…" his blue eyes showed nothing for hatred for the beast locked within him, "If you hurt anyone... I _will_ find a way to killyou."

With that the blond left, the world around him fazing from view.

* * *

Tsunade watched over Naruto with a worried frown on her face. She had gone over the injuries over his body and found that his right arm was heavily damaged despite its normal appearance, it was as if he had been hit by something that only struck internally. Not to mention the injuries on his ribs and the case of chakra exhaustion he had suffered only hours ago.

She had been at her office at the time when Jiraiya suddenly entered to tell her that Naruto had just gotten back to the village and fainted. He had said something about a seal but she had left before he could finish, it wasn't as if he wouldn't talk to her later anyway. Whenever the pervert was around Konoha he would stay for a few days which gave them a lot of free time to talk.

Tsunade gave a look of surprise when Naruto began to stir before his eyes opened. His eyes wondered around the room before they landed on the legendary medic, his face forming into a look of confusion.

"Where am I?" he asked before letting out a yawn.

The medic smiled and crossed her arms. "You're in the hospital," she began, "You suffered from a case of chakra exhaustion and fainted on the spot. I'm surprised you're awake so quickly."

Naruto nodded with a grin on his face. "I feel a lot better," he confessed, "My head hurt a little but it's not too bad."

"Let me be the judge of that," Tsunade scolded before looking over the blond's body. His arm was a lot better thanks to her earlier work as were his ribs, it looked as if someone tried to heal them but they didn't do a very good job at it. She sensed the chakra in his body and found it to be increasing at a steady pace. "How..?" she muttered in disbelief. He was a lot healthier than a few hours ago, it was as if he had been in the hospital for days.

"I told you already, didn't I?" came the voice of Jiraiya from the hospital room's door.

"Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto greeted with a smile.

The toad sage chuckled and walked over to the blond. "It's been a while kid. You haven't been doing too well I see," he teased receiving a frown from his student, "Don't take it so seriously kid, you're on your way."

"Do you know why he healed so quickly?" Tsunade cut in with a serious expression.

Jiraiya nodded with his mouth forming into a thin line. "There was some kind of seal on his stomach, right on top of the Kyuubi's," he explained, his expression growing grim, "Now, on its own it would have negated any influence the fox had on Naruto, but unlike Orochimaru's it wouldn't have really messed with his chakra control."

"They tried to help him?" the medic asked incredulously. She and Naruto giving Jiraiya their full attention.

"It looks like it," the toad sage admitted before crossing his arms, "But something went wrong. It looks like something forced more of the fox's chakra than first intended. This made the new seal alter the original." The sage turned to Naruto with a frown on his face, "Do you know what could have forced the chakra out of the suppression seal?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes in an attempt to focus. He couldn't really think of anything, the only people who might know what was going on would be Red Death or Ayumu. "I remember!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening at the revelation, "This old man I met put some seals on me. The seals healed me pretty quickly and after that I had to use the fox's chakra to fight."

Jiraiya nodded, rubbing his chin, "That must be what changed the seal."

"How did this change his seal?" Tsunade asked with a frown, "Is there any danger to Naruto?"

The toad sage shook his head. "From what I've seen, it closed the gaps left by the original seal," he answered in a grim tone. Tsunade's eyes widened, already knowing what would happen, "This means access to the Kyuubi's chakra will be close to none. His body adjusting to that change must have been what caused his chakra exhaustion but now that it's over the shock he's going back to normal. I'm actually surprised that he lasted as long as he did." The sage crossed his arms and looked at his student with a light grin, "If you lasted as long as you did then that means that there was a lot of the fox's chakra left in your system. Just how much of the fox's chakra did you use to have it last for two days?"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya with a serious expression on his face. "I can't call on the Kyuubi's chakra anymore?" he asked, ignoring his master's question. He received a nod from the toad sage. The blond smirked, remembering his last conversation with the fox, "That's fine with me. I don't want to use any of its chakra."

"You don't get it do you?" Jiraiya frowned, "This is more serious than that. You need that power to help you against the Akatsuki."

"No I don't," the blond Chunin argued, "I'll just train a lot harder so that I don't have to use its chakra again."

Jiraiya looked at his student with a disapproving look on his face, "Listen kid, you nee-"

"Enough!" Tsunade broke in, tired of having the two argue. She pointed at the blond and glared at Jiraiya, "He's still healing, the last thing he needs is someone arguing with him. We can just talk about this later."

"Fine," Jiraiya agreed with a scowl. He turned to leave but suddenly stopped on his tracks. "Get healed soon alright?" he suddenly smirked, reverting back to his old self, "I have a surprise for you when your arm is all better."

With that the sage left, leaving a very confused Naruto behind.

The blond turned to Tsunade. "So I'm a lot better now, right?" he asked with a tinge of hope on his voice.

"You are, why do you ask?" the medic looked at Naruto with a curious expression on her face, not knowing why he was asking.

"Then can I leave the hospital already?" he pleaded with a hopeful look on his face.

Tsunade sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, or course he would ask something like that. "You could, but you're too dangerous to be left alone," she explained receiving a frown from the blond, "Right now you need rest and people to look after you. Who's to say you won't collapse again? Knowing you, you'll end up doing just that."

Naruto sighed in frustration. "Come one granny? Can't you think of something?" he whined with his arms crossed, "I've been spending too much time in hospitals lately. I just don't want to stay here anymore."

Tsunade thought it over before letting out a defeated sigh. "Fine, there's something we can do," she gave in before suddenly perking up, realizing that it wasn't such a bad idea. This way he would have someone watching over him, whether it'd be her or Shizune, "In fact, it's what we're going to do."

Naruto suddenly thought that maybe he shouldn't have asked for anything.

* * *

Shikamaru fidgeted under the Hokage's calculating gaze. The man could be really intimidating when he wanted to. It reminded him of being scolded by his dad from time to time, not that he was a kid that acted out in fact it was quite the opposite. He would get scolded for not doing anything, though it only happened because his mom pressured her father into doing it.

The Third took a drag out of his pipe, closing his eyes to calm himself. "Sasuke Uchiha turned on you during the mission and fought Naruto, putting your whole team in danger," he stated with a tired look on his face, sometimes he felt like he was too old for this, "I can't punish him until I hear both of their stories, they both deserve to have the benefit of doubt for now. But don't worry, I'll see to it that he's punished. Is there anything else that happened in your mission?"

The lazy Chunin hated putting more weight on the tired man but he had to give him the last ounce of information. "No sir," he replied before his expression grew into a serious one, "The Sand council tried to get us killed."

"What do you mean?" the Third asked with his eyes narrowing.

"They hired a mercenary to kill us during the mission," he informed, watching the Hokage's eyes shine in a silent fury, "We managed to take him down but he did prevent us from helping the others with Red Death."

"I see," he muttered, trying to keep a cool head. In reality he was furious with the Sand, they had betrayed them during the Chunin Exams and had just done it again. They hadn't learned anything. He was opposed to war but it seemed as the only way to get them to understand at the moment.

"We also met an old lady named Chiyo," Shikamaru continued, snapping the Hokage's attention back to the teen, "She said that the council that wanted us dead is now gone and that they would be forming a new one. I told her that I would tell you..."

The Hokage nodded with a light smile on his face. "Very well. Congratulations on your mission. Even though it wasn't a success, you managed to come back alive. That is always good news," he nodded once more, "You're free to leave."

"Right," Shikamaru said before leaving the office, hoping to catch up on sleep.

The Third sat behind his desk quietly, the hat on his head now a lot heavier. Decisions like this weighed heavily on a person, he wasn't sure if he could handle another war at his age. He didn't know how to go about the Sand, they had gotten rid of the council which would have been one of the demands he had made on them. But still the question stood, what would he do with them?

**Ch. 33 End**

**That's it for this chapter guys. I'm still having a lot of problems with my internet so next chapter might take longer to come out, I'm terribly sorry. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	34. Dinner Plans

**Here's the next one guys. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter and thanks for understanding my internet problems. This chapter will be of a lighter mood since we've had action for that last few chapters. **

**IMPORTANT: Since a lot of you asked me, yes there will be a sequel :) If I have my way then it will begin right after the last chapter of this one, around one week after. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 34 Dinner Plans**

It was morning as Ino made her way through the streets of Konoha. She smiled as she took a big breath, enjoying the fresh air. Being raised by a flower shop owner she knew to appreciate nature, the fragrances of plants and the rich air that the forest surrounding the village brought were things that she really loved. The Leaf village was like a paradise to her.

Ino kept a steady pace, wondering what kind of training she would go through today. Learning medical jutsu was her prime wish but Tsunade wanted to take care of her weaknesses first. It wasn't until their training started that she realized just how many weaknesses she had. Her jutsu left her wide open and her taijutsu wasn't where she wanted it to be. At times like this she wondered just how much training her dad and teachers had gone through to be where they are.

She turned a corner to see the ninja Academy. A smile adorned her face, watching the building through the fence that surrounded it. There were a few Chunin walking into the building already, among them a smiling Iruka. He had probably been the only teacher to really like that job in her opinion. She remembered how not all of them could hold it together and, although he clearly didn't at times, he was still cheerful each morning. It seemed things hadn't changed for him.

The smile suddenly faded when she saw the lone swing hanging from a tree. A sudden image of a young Naruto sitting on it with a depressed look flashed through her mind and she couldn't help but look away. She knew from watching him that he wasn't completely over that pain, it was as if he had just pushed it away. He might have all of those fake smiles and words but his eyes never lied. She could always see a wave of sadness wash over them whenever something brought up his childhood.

The kunoichi shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts. It wouldn't do her any good to linger on them. Getting over that pain was something he had to do alone and, as much as she wanted to help, she couldn't. She was glad that he really liked the time he spent with her and her family, she could always see it, he needed something like this.

She passed by the Academy and finally made it to her destination, a two story home standing proudly on the street. This was the home of her teacher Tsunade. Ino didn't know why she didn't just get a bigger home since the legendary medic was certainly capable. Her answer had been a laugh and a rather simply explanation. Aside from the fact that her last gambling streak had left her with close to no cash, she was simply a modest person. She didn't care where she lived as long as she had enough room to move around and put her many books and notes.

Ino walked to the home's door, knocking on it loudly since she knew that her teacher was not a morning person and needed this kind of noise in order to wake up. She waited patiently before hearing the familiar sound of footsteps followed by a thud and a low curse. The doorknob turned before the door finally open to reveal a shirtless Naruto with a necklace she had never seen around his neck.

"Ino?" Naruto mumbled, still half-asleep.

The kunoichi blushed and snapped her head to the side. "What are you doing Naruto?" she scolded, "Put a shirt on!"

The blond Chunin cocked his head to the side. "Why should I do that?" he asked, "I'm always like this when I go swimming. It's not a big deal, right?"

Ino gritted her teeth and snapped her head back to Naruto, prepared to yell at him before taking note of the cast on his right arm. "What happened to your arm?" she asked in worry. Not caring about his lack of shirt anymore she entered the home and closed the door behind her, "Did you use that jutsu again?"

Naruto smiled and shook his head. "I was hit by an attack but I'm all better now," he affirmed, waving his right arm for emphasis, "See? Granny Tsunade healed it yesterday right after I got here."

"You got here yesterday?" Ino asked in slight surprise. Her boyfriend nodded and walked towards the home's kitchen, his feet tapping against the wooden floors. She followed after him and pouted, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, it was late when I got here," he began, opening the fridge and looking over what it held. Behind him Ino sat on a chair and watched her boyfriend look around the fridge with a look of disgust on his face, she guessed that he hadn't been here before. Being a medic and a gambler made Tsunade's diet a little odd, mostly consisting of odd food with many types of drinks. "There's nothing to eat…" he muttered before turning back to Ino with a grin, "Anyway, it was late and I decided to wait until today to visit you."

The kunoichi nodded with a smile before pouting her lips in confusion. "Why are you here anyway?" she asked, "Shouldn't you be in the hospital or your apartment?"

Naruto let out a chuckle and sat on a chair next to Ino's. "Granny said that she didn't trust me to be alone in my apartment so she took me here," the blond crossed his arms, "So, what are you doing here Ino? Were you looking for granny?"

Ino instantly smiled, remembering that Naruto still didn't know of her latest news. "Yeah I was looking for Tsunade," she began, her eyes lighting up in excitement, "I'm her new student and she said she was going to train me today."

"That's great," Naruto smiled proudly, "You'll get stronger in no time."

"Yeah," she agreed, "I'm already learning a lot and it's only been a few days. Where is she anyway?"

"She's over at the hospital," he informed, raising from his chair and letting out a sigh, "She told me to meet her there at nine for a quick check-up." He turned to Ino with a smile, "Do you want to go together?"

"Of course," she smiled as a light blush graced her cheeks, her boyfriend had yet to put on a shirt, "But could you put a shirt on first?"

Naruto nodded and left the room, leaving a smiling Ino behind. She was worried about his injuries but having him back safe and sound brought her a sense of relief that outweighed the worry. The only bad thing was that she would need to go training and wouldn't be able to spend much time with him.

Ino stood from her seat and walked towards the front door. She would just need to make most of the time she got to spend with Naruto. Besides, she was still free at night and if she wasn't too tired then they could go on a date or, in the most likely case, if she is completely tired then she can just invite him over for dinner. The only thing she wished for was that Tsunade wouldn't drive her until she dropped but it was only wishful thinking on her part, she knew that her master wouldn't tone down their training.

* * *

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk with his eyes closed. He would have a meeting with the council in a few hours, a meeting that would have several people panicking over the loss of a sharingan. It wouldn't surprise him if he spent the whole day there.

"You're looking a bit tired old man," came the voice of Jiraiya. The sage leaned against an open window by the Third's desk with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face.

"I am tired," the Third responded with a sigh before reaching under his desk. "What brings you here Jiraiya?" he asked, taking out his pipe and lighting its contents, "You seem a little agitated."

Jiraiya grinned as his old teacher placed the pipe on his mouth, after all this years the man still knew him well. "You heard about Naruto's team coming back, right?" the Hokage nodded with an almost curious expression on his face, "You of all people probably won't like this but something messed with his seal on his last mission."

The reaction was instant. The Third's gaze grew firm and his eyes narrowed, "What happened?"

"Apparently someone tried to give him control of the Kyuubi's chakra without any influence to his mind," he began, "It did work but something went wrong and now his chakra and the fox's are isolated from each other. Long story short, Naruto will not be able to use its chakra anymore."

"I see…" the Third muttered. He hadn't been expecting this in the slightest. What were the odds of having such a complex seal altered, "Is there any danger to him?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "From what I've seen so far, there isn't any kind of secondary effect," he paused before running a hand through his hair, "I'll check on the seal one more time next time I see him. But the thing that worried me is that someone out there knows a way to manipulate a demon's chakra with a few seals."

"It shouldn't be so surprising," the Hokage responded, "There are all kinds of people in the world that specialize in different things. At least one person should know how to control a tailed beast."

"Anyway, I heard that there was some kind of falling on Naruto's team," the toad sage began, "What do you plan to do about it?"

The Hokage took a drag out of his pipe before letting out a cloud of smoke. "From Tsunade's earlier report, she said that Sasuke's right eye is gone. The council will want to punish Naruto for taking one of their sharingan but I won't allow it," he affirmed, "The thing I'm looking over right now is how to go about Sasuke. When a ninja attacks his own teammates we usually just lock them up but this being the last Uchiha, I'm sure the council will do everything on its power to override my decision."

"You're the Hokage," Jiraiya deadpanned, "Shouldn't you be the one to have control over _your_ ninja."

"This is a special case," the Third responded, "With him being the last of his clan, he falls under the clan protection program. The council has control of this and can override a few of my decisions, I'm sure this is one of those few cases."

Jiraiya's scowled, "Then what are you going to do?"

"I know that I won't be able to lock him up," the Third stated, letting out a cloud of smoke, "But that doesn't mean that I can't still punish him. I can't have him think that he can get away with anything, that would just result in repeats of this mission."

* * *

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh. Everything was perfect. He had a steaming bowl of ramen before him, the weather was great and most of all, Ino sat next to him enjoying her own bowl of ramen. It was a perfect day but something was very wrong. He couldn't eat the heavenly meal since he couldn't use chopsticks with his left hand. He tried, but he just couldn't use them properly.

"I'm tired of watching you do that," Ino sighed out. Naruto turned to the kunoichi, eyes widening slightly when she moved closer to him.

"Ino," he muttered in surprise as she used her chopsticks to dig into his plate and put the ramen right in front of his mouth.

The girl smiled as she inched the chopsticks closer. "You can't eat by yourself so I'll help you. Open up," she ordered in a light tone. Naruto blushed slightly as he opened his mouth and was greeted by unforgettable taste of ramen. He smiled in appreciation as his girlfriend continued feeding him.

"Enjoying your meal I see…" someone muttered behind them. The couple turned to see a smiling Kakashi with a book on hand, "Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei..?" Naruto muttered in confusion.

The Jonin set his book to the side. "It's been a while Naruto," he stated before sitting next to him, his eyes showing a hint of sadness, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Ino blushed slightly and shook her head. "We were just eating here," she affirmed with Naruto nodding in agreement, "But what are you doing here?"

Kakashi set his book down and turned to his student. "I've heard what happened with Sasuke from Jiraiya," he stated. Ino turned to Naruto with a questioning gaze, watching his eyes lose their usual warmth, "I just wanted to say that I don't blame you for any of it. If it really happened the way you said it did then you are not to be blamed. But you do know that it is going to affect our team, right?"

Naruto nodded at his teacher with a scowl on his face. "Well, it's not like we've seen much of each other lately," he concluded, "I mean. With me being a Chunin and with you out on missions all the time, this thing will probably pass… right?"

"You're right," the Jonin responded with a small chuckle. He ruffled the blond's hair before getting up, "I can't let my cute little Genin team fall apart, can I?"

Ino watched as the older ninja left in a cloud of smoke. She wondered what had happened on that mission. So far, all she knew was that Sasuke was in the hospital and that Naruto had something to do with it and he was keeping it bottled up inside. She frowned, she had told them that he needed to stop keeping things bottled up inside and she would let him know that she had been serious.

"Naruto," she called with a frown on her face. The blond turned to his girlfriend and felt himself shrink under her powerful gaze. "What happened on the mission?" Naruto let out a sigh before turning away from the kunoichi, "You know you can tell me, right? You don't have to keep it bottled up inside."

"Sasuke attacked me during the mission," he began. Ino's eyes widened at the revelation, just what kind of mission had they been on, "It was during the middle of a plan. He put the entire team in danger and I was forced to fight him seriously. In the end he ran at me and, without looking, I cut right through his right eye."

"Well, he deserved it!" Ino declared with a firm nod. She had had no idea that Sasuke would do something like that. Sure, she barely knew him but she still thought that he would attack his own teammates, during a mission no less.

A hint of worry flashed through her eyes when she gazed at Naruto once more. "Are you alright with all of this?" she asked, hoping that he didn't blame himself for everything again, "He was the one who attacked."

Naruto grinned before chuckling lightly. "I know," he assured as he hopped off the stool, "Jiraiya-sensei told me to stop blaming myself for things like that. I know that what happened to Sasuke was bad but it wasn't my fault. He was the one who attacked and I stopped him before anyone could get killed."

Ino smiled as she watched him leave. He had matured a bit. Of course he could be childish at times but he was beginning to become a very responsible person. Not to mention that he was even stronger than Sasuke now, the guy that had been the strongest in their age group.

"Looks like Naruto pulled a fast one on you," Teuchi laughed from the kitchen. Ino's eyes widened, realizing that her boyfriend had just left without paying. The man smiled, "Don't worry, he does it to everyone that takes him here."

Ino clenched her fists. Naruto maturing had to be some kind of joke.

* * *

Naruto laughed as he walked through the hospital's hallways beside Ino who smiled in amusement. As she was about to pay Teuchi for the meal. Naruto had come back, laughing at the look on her face. After that Ino had called him an idiot while he paid for their food with his usual foxy grin on his face.

"Will you stop already?" Ino giggled, she had to admit that it was a good prank.

The blond Chunin chuckled once more as he approached a door. "Fine, we're here anyway," he opened the door to find Tsunade sitting behind a desk with her arms crossed.

It was a standard office. It had three large windows on the opposite wall of the door, white walls and various bookshelves filled with loose sheets of paper and old books. Tsunade's desk stood right in front of the windows, filled with documents, books and a few scrolls.

"You're late Naruto," Tsunade declared with a glare. Both blonds flinched from her glare. The medic had that effect on people. She was very intimidating when she wanted to, "What took you so long?"

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I got… lost…?" he answered uncertainly.

Ino rolled her eyes. That had probably been the worse excuse she had ever heard, she guessed that she would need to help him, "We had to eat breakfast and ran into Kakashi-sensei. Sorry we're late, it won't happen again."

Tsunade smiled and nodded her head before turning to Naruto. "You could learn a few manners from Ino," she teased, inwardly smiling at the annoyed pout on his face, "I also want you to stop being late for everything. I won't let you become another Kakashi. Got it?"

"Got it," Naruto muttered with an annoyed look on his face.

"Good," the medic responded with a smile.

Ino watched the exchange with a small smile. She hadn't noticed it before but the two had a kind of mother-son relationship. If they knew, she didn't know but it was there. From the small amount of time she had spent with her master, she had noticed that Tsunade was a very professional person that carried herself with an air of respect. Of course she was a laid back person but she always made sure to keep things strictly professional with other ninja.

On the other hand when Tsunade was with Naruto she seemed a lot calmer and talked with an air of familiarity. Ino had to admit that she was a little surprised that the legendary medic gave off the kind of warmth a mother would when talking to her child. Even the stern, yet concerned, voice was there. If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed that they were related.

"Now, let's get back to business," Tsunade declared, walking over to Naruto. She placed both hands on top of his cast, the two glowing with green chakra, "You seem to be healing pretty well… but it might take a few days until we can take the cast off."

"How long?" Naruto asked with a frown.

The medic retracted from the arm and crossed her arms, closing her eyes in concentration. "From what I've seen, your arm is doing well right now but I want you to keep the cast just in case," she informed, "If you don't strain your arm I'm pretty sure you'll be well enough to take it off in around two days."

"Great," the blond Chunin muttered, eyeing his cast. He turned back to the medic with a frown on his face, "How's Sasuke?"

Tsunade sighed as she watched the two young ninja looking at her expectedly. "He should be out of the hospital in a few days," she began, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "But I wasn't able to do anything about his eye." The medic rose from her chair before breaking into a smirk, her eyes on Ino, "Well, I guess we should start with your training for today."

Ino laughed nervously, knowing she was bound for another day of torture. "R-right," she agreed hesitantly.

"Then I'll come too," Naruto declared with a smile, "Since I can't do any training of my own then I wanna see how Ino is doing."

Tsunade nodded, "That will be for the best, that way I'll be able to check on you." The medic took a scroll from her desk and made her way out of the room, "Let's get going. Shizune will take care of things while I'm gone."

The couple followed after the legendary medic, wondering what she had in store.

* * *

Naruto walked through the village with a very tired Ino with her head on his shoulder. The Chunin smiled as he cast a glance at the girl leaning against him. He had been surprised with how intense Tsunade's training was. He had wanted to train himself but due to Tsunade being there he wasn't allowed to move in the slightest, he could only watch as his girlfriend trained and he was surprised to see how determined she was. No matter how tired she looked she just kept on going.

"Naruto…" Ino mumbled, her eyes closed in exhaustion.

"What is it?" Naruto wondered in a light tone.

A smile tugged at her lips. "Do you want to have dinner at my house?" she asked, "It would be nice to have you over again and besides, my parents would like to see you again."

An image of Inoichi flashed through Naruto's head, remembering the last conversation they had had.

'_if you ever do anything indecent to my little princess… I will castrate you with a spoon.'_

He shuddered. He didn't know exactly what Inoichi meant but what he did know was that the man was frightening, "A-are you sure your dad wouldn't mind?"

Ino giggled, why did he have to be so intimidated by her dad? "Come on Naruto, you're acting like my dad hates you," she laughed, not noticing skeptical look coming from her boyfriend, "He just likes to mess with you. I'm sure he likes you."

"Fine," he sighed out, "But if we eat anything with a spoon, I'm getting out of there."

"Huh?" Ino let out in confusion.

* * *

"What are your orders Lord Orochimaru?" asked one of the four ninja kneeling in front of the snake summoner.

Orochimaru watched his followers with an amused smile. He was sure that they would get their job done, they had been handpicked after all. His eyes landed on the ninja with orange hair. He hadn't been too sure of sending such an important 'tool' but he would be needed in convincing Sasuke.

"I want you to watch over my next body, Sasuke," Orochimaru began as he licked his lips, "Make sure to watch him from the shadows, we won't want to expose you too quickly. When the time comes I want you to…persuade him into coming to me for more power. Is that understood?"

The four ninja raised their heads, "Yes Lord Orochimaru."

"Then you are dismissed," the snake summoner ordered.

The four ninja disappeared in clouds of smoke, set on pleasing their Lord.

**Ch. 34 End**

**That's it for now guys. I know that this was a bit short and not much happened but I'm just setting things up for the next chapter. For those of you that enjoy action then you won't have to wait long. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	35. New Sensei! Naruto's Torture!

**Here's the next one guys, I hope it didn't take too long. Thanks to those who reviewed, your opinions are greatly appreciated, and of course to those of you that added this story to their alerts and favorites. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 35 New Sensei! Naruto's Torture!**

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried not to groan in annoyance at the council members sitting before him. First there were the heads of the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka clans. Next were the three elders, Danzo, Koharu, and Homura. Lastly there were a few members of the civilian council, only in the room for formality. Their constant bickering was getting on his nerves.

"I don't understand why we're making such a fuzz about a kid's eye," the head of the Hyuuga clan, Hiashi Hyuuga, responded in a bitter tone, "It's not as if the sharingan is needed in the village."

"The sharingan is needed not only because of its power but its reputation," Danzo responded simply, "With the other villages knowing that we have an Uchiha in the front lines they will certainly be intimidated."

"But he attacked a fellow ninja," the head of the Nara clan, Shikaku, stated calmly, "Such an attack's punishment is usually prison or death."

"But he's the last of his clan," Danzo countered, "We can't have a clan die out just because of a brat not controlling his emotions."

"What about the other brat's punishment," one of the civilian council members argued, "He attacked the last of the Uchiha and took his eye. The brat should be put to death."

"Don't even try to pin this on the kid," Inoichi responded with his eyes narrowed, "He attacked the Uchiha for the well-being of his entire team, he should be praised for taking him down. Besides, you have no business here. The only reason you're sitting here is because none of us want to do the paperwork and you, being the lowest rank, have to."

"That's enough," the Third scolded, suppressing the urge to chuckle at Inoichi's previous comment. The Hokage cleared his throat before continuing, "I have already assessed the situation and have come up with a proper punishment."

"And what would that be Lord Hokage?" the Inuzuka clan head, Tsume, asked.

The Hokage let out a breath before gazing at the council, "Sasuke will be put back in the Academy."

"That is nonsense," Koharu, the Third's old teammate, declared with a frown on her face, "We need him to develop his sharingan. How can he do that if he's not allowed to go on missions?"

"That is what I have decided," the Third declared, "Also, he will not be able to leave his compound for any other reason than going to the Academy."

Danzo kept a calm expression on his face as he set his eyes on the Hokage, "Lord Hokage, this is most unreasonable. We cannot hinder the progress of the young Uchiha."

The Third stood from his seat, "It has been decided and not up for discussion. By placing him back in the Academy I'm not endangering the future of his clan in any way. There's nothing else to discuss."

Danzo watched the old man leave, thinking of how to turn the events to his favors. By keeping Sasuke secluded from the outside world he finally had a chance to approach him without the risk of any spies. This way he could train the boy and forge him into a ninja of his approval.

Yes, he would not only control the Kyuubi but one of the last Uchiha as well.

* * *

Ino smiled as she and Naruto sat on her home's table. They had gotten home a few minutes ago. Her mom, Miki, had been ecstatic to see Naruto again and offered to make them dinner. The young kunoichi had been glad to see that her boyfriend was a lot more comfortable around her mom, though he still kept a small distance from her.

Miki emerged from the kitchen with a smile on her face, carrying a large bowl of rice, "Here we are."

Ino's mom set the rice on the table before turning to walk away. "Mom do you need help with setting up the table?" Ino asked with a small grin before turning to her boyfriend, "Naruto would love to help out. Right?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly before smiling nervously, "R-right."

"Well then come on," Miki smiled as she and Naruto entered the kitchen.

Ino watched them leave, letting out a small giggle at her boyfriend's nervous face.

"I'm home," came her dad's voice from the front door. Inoichi entered the room with a smile on his face, "Hi princess, how did your training go today?"

"It went great," she informed as her dad sat on his usual seat, on the chair right in front of her, "How did your meeting go?"

Inoichi frowned before turning at the sound of the kitchen's door opening. Naruto entered the room with a plate of food on hand, eyes widening when seeing the older ninja. Inoichi smirked in return, watching the young ninja stand there nervously.

"So you're back already?" Inoichi muttered with a frown on his face.

"Y-yeah," Naruto smiled nervously as he set the food on the table and sat next to his girlfriend, shrinking under the man's gaze.

Miki entered the room, instantly smiling at seeing her husband back. "Hi dear how was your day?" she asked as she set the plates of food she held on the table.

"It was alright," Inoichi responded with a smile of his own.

"Good because I made a lot of food today," she explained before an apologetic look washed over her face, "But since there's no spare chopsticks, I'll have to give Naruto a spoon."

Naruto's heartbeat rose as she set a spoon in front of him. "Isn't that great kid?" Inoichi asked with a smirk. The blond Chunin managed to nod as he took hold of the 'deadly weapon.'

* * *

"I guess I'll get going now," Naruto stated as he rose from his chair. His meal had been finished for a few minutes and they had just talked about anything that came to mind, it was fun but he felt like he was intruding by being there.

"It was nice to have you over," Miki assured with a smile. Naruto nodded in return and gave a small wave before beginning to walk away.

"I'll walk you out then," Ino announced as she followed after her boyfriend.

The couple reached the door and walked out, welcoming the feel of the cool breeze that greeted them as soon as they set foot outside.

Ino suddenly took hold of his hand and pulled him towards her, her lips meeting his in a light kiss. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before closing as he returned the kiss a little clumsily. The two broke apart and gazed into each other's eyes, a smile gracing the girl's features, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Naruto responded as he gave her a quick peck on the lips before walking away, turning to wave one last time before continuing on his way home.

He let out a sigh of relief as soon as he was alone. Inoichi made him really nervous and he swore that he saw him scanning the spoon a couple of times. The blond let out a chuckle as he made his way home, at least he would be safe for another day.

"Hey Naruto," a familiar voice called from behind him. The blond turned to come face to face with Inoichi. A sudden wave of fear struck him as the older man walked right past, "Follow me."

Terror can make a person do stupid things, in this case it made Naruto follow after the man knowing full well that it would put him in danger. The older man suddenly jumped into one of the nearby rooftops, throwing him a look before leaping away.

"Wait up," Naruto called as he jumped after him, leaping through rooftops while making sure not to strain his arm.

Inoichi simply went faster, much to the annoyance of the young Chunin. He followed after the man with no idea of where they were going. He looked around the area and noticed that they were heading straight for the training grounds, a wide open space that was perfect for combat and testing out abilities.

'_He's finally going to kill me,' _he screamed in his head.

The older ninja jumped once more, disappearing into an area filled with trees. Naruto followed after him, preparing to land on a branch but stopped when seeing Inoichi standing in a small clearing. The Yamanaka made his way towards two decent sized rocks and sat in one of them, motioning the blond to do the same. The blond Chunin sat on the rock next to Inoichi and put on a look of confusion, having no idea of what the man would want.

"I just want to have a talk with you," Inoichi stated as his gaze turned to the star-filled sky. Naruto watched the man anxiously, expecting any kind of threat. "I wanted to thank you for spending time with my daughter," he hadn't been expecting that, "She's regaining the determination she had back when she was younger. I can tell that she's really happy."

Naruto turned his gaze to the sky also, watching the bright stars illuminate the sky.

"You two actually remind me of Miki and myself when we were dating," he stated with a chuckle, "But anyway I came here to tell you something important."

"What is it?" Naruto asked with a look of confusion.

"I know that I'm a little intimidating but remember," he began before turning to Naruto with a small grin, "If you're ever in trouble of any kind and need help. Remember that my family and I are always willing to help you out."

Naruto's eyes widened as the man stood up, dusting his pants as he let out a sigh. The man turned to the blond and gave a light wave before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

The young Chunin couldn't help but smile. He guessed that Inoichi wasn't that bad.

* * *

It had been two days since Naruto's team got back from the Sand village. On those two days big things had happened. A few Leaf ninja had been sent over to the Sand to negotiate with the council and maintain peace. They agreed on a shinobi exchange program where they would send a Genin or Chunin to each other's villages as a sign of trust.

Another thing that had happened was Sasuke finally being let out of the hospital. He had been outraged about going back to the Academy and made it his duty to get out of it as soon as possible. None of the Rookie 9 had seen him though since he had been placed under house arrest and he wouldn't let anyone enter.

It was now morning as Naruto walked out of the hospital with a smile plastered on his face. He wore his usual outfit but no cast, something he had been waiting for. No cast meant that he could train once again and this time he would train harder than ever. Since he wouldn't be able to use the fox's chakra he would need to train until he dropped in order to get stronger. He didn't want to have anyone hurt on missions anymore.

'_What should I train in first,' _Naruto wondered as he made his way to the training grounds where he and Jiraiya would usually go. It was away from the rest of the training grounds and had a river that he could use to expand his training. He thought back on his last mission with a frown. He had lost all of his chakra rather quickly and forced to use the fox's.

"My jutsu still take too much chakra," he muttered with a frown. Jiraiya had explained that the worse the chakra control, the more chakra wasted when using them. "Looks like I'll need to train my chakra control," he concluded with a grin.

"Talking to yourself kid?" a familiar voice called out. Naruto turned around to see his master standing before him with a grin on his face, "Looks like you've healed up."

Naruto smiled, throwing his right hand in the air, "I'm all better now Jiraiya-sensei. Now I can train even harder than before."

"Did you already forget?" Jiraiya sighed out in annoyance. Seeing the confused look on his student's face he got his answer, "I have a surprise for you now that you can use your arm again."

Naruto's face immediately lit up. "I remember now!" he exclaimed in excitement, "So what is it? A new jutsu?'

Jiraiya crossed his arms with a frown on his face, "What did I tell you about jutsu?"

"Jutsu doesn't make the ninja…" Naruto muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Exactly," the toad sage grinned, "Anyway. Your surprise is in the training grounds we usually train at. Just go there and you'll see your surprise."

"Thanks Jiraiya-sensei," Naruto smiled before running off towards the training grounds, excitement filling his eyes.

Jiraiya watched him leave with a smirk on his face, "Don't thank me yet kid."

* * *

Naruto made it to the training grounds, his eyes darting around the area. There was the usual waterfall on the side, the small river and the many trees that surrounded the area but he found no sign of what could be a surprise.

His head suddenly perked up when hearing something whizzing through the air. Not thinking twice he leaned his head to his left, avoiding a kunai that managed to grace his cheek, leaving a trail of blood that ran down his face. He prepared to move away but was stopped by two hands holding his shoulders firmly.

"What the…" Naruto trailed off before feeling something wet and hot run across his cut. The young ninja shivered in disgust but couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity.

"Do you remember me brat?" Anko asked as she pushed the blond away.

Naruto rose to his feet and glared at the older ninja, "You're that crazy lady from the Chunin Exams."

Anko smirked at the nickname. "I guess you could say that," she began before taking out a kunai. She felt a tinge of amusement as the blond ninja's stance grew tense. The snake mistress placed the kunai on her index finger and began to spin it in place with a smirk on her face, "And you're the big-mouthed brat from the Chunin Exams, right?"

"What are you doing here anyway?" Naruto asked with a frown. He was not comfortable around her, she reminded him of Orochimaru somewhat.

"I owe the big pervert a favor," Anko began with a frown on her face, "He asked me to teach you some taijutsu and other useful skills for a shinobi."

'_So this is his idea of a surprise,' _he thought bitterly, picturing his master's grinning face. The Chunin looked at Anko with a scowl on his face, figuring that more training couldn't be a bad thing, "So, when do we begin?"

Anko smiled as she licked her lips. She stopped twirling the kunai on her finger and flicked her wrist, sending the projectile straight for the blond.

Naruto, not one for getting hit by the same thing twice, sidestepped the incoming weapon but froze when he realized that Anko had disappeared from sight. He slipped into his taijutsu stance and focused his eyes on the area around him, waiting for anything that would give out her location. A sudden blur threw him off-guard, the snake mistress appearing before him in a cloud of smoke.

"Now!" she declared as she threw a punch.

* * *

The Third Hokage sat behind his desk with a pipe on his mouth. A trail of smoke left his pipe as he stared at his old student with a serious look on his face. It had been only moments ago that Jiraiya had arrived saying that he had a new lead on the Akatsuki and had to leave the village once more.

"When do you expect to come back?" the Third Hokage asked as he took a drag out of his pipe.

Jiraiya shrugged with a grin on his face. "I'm not sure but this leads always take about a week," he began as he crossed his arms, "But the thing I came here for was to tell you that I plan on taking Naruto on that training trip when I get back."

"I see," the Hokage nodded, "I'll get the paperwork ready. Remember that Naruto will still take missions on occasions."

"I got it old man," the toad sage responded with a grin, "It will be helpful on his training anyway."

The Third let out another trail of smoke, his expression growing tired, "I'm planning on naming my replacement. Being Hokage is draining and I'm getting tired."

The toad sage smirked. "I guess you're going to get Tsunade to run things, right?" he asked. The Third simply nodded in response, showing that he was correct, "That's great. She's qualified for the job and I'm sure she'll grow fond of the idea."

The Third let out another trail of smoke, "I really hope so."

* * *

Ino panted with her hands on her knees, trails of sweat running down her face. Tsunade stood in front of the Genin with a smirk on her face, a sign that told Ino that their training hadn't even started.

The two were on their usual training spot that was a little secluded from the rest. Ino found it to be a calming place since it was surrounded by trees and covered with healthy grass. She had arrived only an hour ago and was already getting tired. Tsunade had greeted her with a taijutsu-only spar that was still going.

Her eyes narrowed when her master began to approach her, both fists held back as she ran. Ino stood her ground, her eyes focused as her fists clenched. Ino watched as Tsunade threw a right hook, aiming right at her yaw. She quickly ducked the blow and quickly turned to her master's left hand, seeing it already heading straight for her face. Without thinking, Ino met the punch with an open palm, avoiding getting hit.

Her victory was outlived as Tsunade's punch pushed her hand aside and made contact with her right cheek. Ino let out a cry of pain as she sailed through the air before falling on the ground.

"That's enough of taijutsu," Tsunade declared, a proud look on her face. She walked over to her student and extended her hand to help her up, "You did good to block my attack. It looks like you're finally grasping the basics of your new taijutsu stance."

"Right…" Ino muttered as she tapped the bright red mark on her cheek. The kunoichi yelped in pain before letting out an annoyed sigh, she was sure that it would swell in a few hours. Turning to her teacher she crossed her arms, "Can't you heal this?"

The medic smirked. "I told you before," she began, "From now on I won't heal any of the wounds you take during training. You have to do it yourself. Take it as a way to motivate you." Ino grumbled, further amusing the medic, "We're starting a new training exercise that will help you control medical chakra better."

"Really? What is it?" Ino asked in interest.

Tsunade set her fist in front of her before a blue chakra flared around it. "I will be teaching you how to use chakra to enhance your attacks," she declared with a grin. Ino smiled in excitement, really liking the new training. The chakra left Tsunade's hand as she crossed her arms and began to explain, "The more chakra control you have, the more powerful your attacks will be. I don't expect you to get this quickly but practicing it while you're taking your fist steps into medical jutsu will help you out a lot."

"Alright," Ino declared with a grin, "Let's start already."

The medic smiled, "Alright then."

* * *

"Is that all you've got?" Anko taunted as she ran at the blond brat once more. She had never seen the toad style taijutsu before but was sure that it wasn't being used to its full potential, after all the taijutsu style came from a sannin.

Naruto growled as he ran at the snake mistress. From what he'd seen, Anko's taijutsu style relied on close combat meaning that his only choice was to attack then move away before she could retaliate. Not what he usually did but he decided to give it a try since it seemed that Anko was to engrossed on the spar.

His eyes narrowed as the kunoichi threw a jab aiming for his midsection. The blond pushed the jab away with an open palm, leaving her exposed. Not wasting any time he threw a punch with his right hand, aiming at her stomach. Anko smirked as she used her other arm to cover the attack.

Naruto watched a light twitch on the kunoichi's leg and quickly jumped away, barely avoiding a kick. He tried to turn his body so that he could land on his feet but suddenly felt something wrap around his ankles tightly. His eyes widened when he noticed the pair of snakes coming from Anko's sleeves. The kunoichi smirked before slamming him against the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust and gaining a loud cry of pain from the blond.

The blond growled as he sat up, eyes glaring at the older ninja, "What the hell was that? I thought that this was a taijutsu-only spar?"

Anko smirked, "I never said anything about not using ninjutsu." More snakes emerged from her sleeves, wrapping tightly around the blond's midsection. Her smirk grew when she watched him struggle, she hated to admit it but the old perv had been right, the brat had a lot of promise. From light taijutsu spar she was able to get an idea of how the blond fought and was impressed. "Alright then. You passed my little test," she announced as she dropped her hold on the blond, watching him kneel on the ground with trails of sweat on his face, "I'll teach you some kickass moves."

Naruto looked at the woman oddly, what kind of test had that been?

"Now get your ass off the ground so we can get started," she scolded with a disapproving frown.

"You're the one that knocked me against the ground," he muttered bitterly.

"First thing I'll do is teach you the stances," Anko informed with her hands on her hips and an exited smile on her face, "That'll take about a minute or two so we'll have the rest of the day to see you use those stances in a spar. If you use any other style other than what I'm about to teach you, well let's just say that it won't be pretty."

Naruto's right eye twitched. It was impossible to learn a new taijutsu style that quickly, much less use it in a spar so quickly. He was lucky to have clones since it would keep him from getting his ass kicked too bad. On top of that, if she sparred like she did only moments ago then he would be lucky to walk the next day.

"This woman is trying to kill me," Naruto concluded as Anko smirked.

**Ch. 35 End**

**This marks the end of this chapter. I hope it was of your liking. Anyway, I'm still having some internet problems but they shouldn't keep me from updating, this update being an example of how fast I can update now, unless something goes horribly wrong.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	36. Broken Pride

**New chapter today guys. Thanks to those who reviewed and to those that added this story to their alerts and favorites. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 36 Broken Pride**

The sun was setting as Naruto faced Anko. He sported a few scratches on his face, his long-sleeved shirt was drenched in sweat and his breathing was uneven. His eyes were focused on his current 'sparring' partner. He found it hard not to groan, she didn't even looked phased by the hours they had spent sparring, in fact she looked as amused as ever.

A short distance away, a few clones could be seen training on the new taijutsu style. He had been relieved to know that Anko had approved of the method since she had said that the faster he learned, the better their spars would be. He was already familiar with the basic stances thanks to the many clones he had training. Unfortunately most of the clones had already dispersed by ricochet kunai, courtesy of Anko, though he didn't really know if they had been accidents as she sported a smirk each time one was 'killed.'

He turned back to the kunoichi, knowing that it wasn't time to think of other things. Slipping into his new taijutsu stance his eyes narrowed on the opponent, he shifted his weight to his left leg and waited for some kind of opening. She suddenly shifted weight in one foot, giving him the opening desired.

The Chunin shot off the ground and charged at the older ninja, his left arm on his side while the right was set in front of his body. He jumped in the air as he twisted his body to the right, throwing a punch with his left arm as he did so. Anko smirked as she easily caught the fist, feeling a bit of pain from the momentum the punch had gained, before using her other arm to throw a jab at the blond's stomach.

Naruto raised his right knee, blocking the attack, before using his other leg to kick at Anko's arm. He pushed against the arm with his leg, using the momentum to push himself off her grip. Landing a few feet away from Anko, he bent his knees and jumped at her once more, throwing a jab with his right hand.

Anko easily knocked the hand aside before throwing an uppercut to the boy's chin. The blond's eyes shut in pain as he sailed through the air. He gritted his teeth as he set his eyes on the ninja as he sailed through the air. Losing sight of her, even when being knocked around, always resulted in a painful kick to his chest.

Quickly twisting his body he took out a couple of kunai, flicking them at the older ninja without missing a beat. Anko took out her own kunai and flung it towards the incoming projectiles, impacting against one of them as she jumped after the blond. Naruto's eyes widened as she extended her hand and caught the second kunai without much trouble, before flinging it right back at him.

The blond quickly ran through hand signs, putting a hand around his mouth. _'Wind Style: Devastation!' _a powerful gust of air shot out of his mouth, blowing the kunai away without any trouble. He landed on the ground and let out a sigh of relief, that kunai had been to close.

"Idiot!" Anko yelled in anger, appearing behind him in a cloud of smoke. She kicked the blond on the back, earning a yelp of pain as he turned to face the kunoichi with a glare, "I told you no to use ninjutsu!"

"What the hell?" Naruto yelled back, "You just tried to kill me! Was I supposed to let the kunai stab me?"

"You were supposed to knock it away with any kind of weapon. Any ninja with a brain would have done that," the snake mistress countered, "I told you not to use ninjutsu but that didn't mean that you were out of long-range attacks. You did use kunai but only once. Shinobi are supposed to use every available resource as a weapon, something that you didn't do."

Naruto crossed his arms, letting out a sigh. "Fine," he let out, "I'll keep it in mind."

Anko smiled. "Good, because we're done for the day," she announced as she began to walk away, turning her head to the bond, "Let's go. We're gonna go get something to eat, you can leave the idiot troop behind if you want."

"HEY!" was the collective shout of the Naruto clones, all glaring at Anko.

Naruto chuckled nervously before following after his new sensei. One thing he had learned was that when his clones were pissed they tended to do stupid things, like yell insults and get him in trouble instead of them.

"Wait up!" Naruto called with a frown as he followed after the kunoichi.

* * *

Ino smiled in contempt as she sat on a river's edge. Her feet were dipped in the water, cooling off a bit after another day of training. Her cheeks were flushed and her face held a few trails of sweat, part of her wanted to just dive in the water but knew that she would end up smelling bad.

She gazed at her hands as her smile grew. It was the first time, in a long time, that she had seen such improvement on her skills. After training on chakra control with Tsunade for hours and hours she finally got to see the results. She had used a few of her water jutsu and had been surprised with how much easier they had come out. It was as if they were second nature to her.

The kunoichi turned to her teacher, the older woman putting the many books she had forced her student to read in scrolls. "Master Tsunade," Ino called with a confused look on her face. Tsunade turned to her student with a questioning look, "Why was it so much easier to use my jutsu? I know that I've been working on chakra control but I never thought it would improve that much."

"It wasn't just the chakra control exercises," Tsunade explained after a brief pause. "It was also because of your medical chakra training," she began, getting back to sorting the scrolls, "Medical chakra is a lot like water. It flows and gives life. Think of it as an advanced form of water control."

Ino nodded, taking her feet off the river and getting up. "I got it," she walked over to her teacher and took a few of the scrolls on hand, "Long story short. If I train my medical chakra, my water jutsu will get stronger, right?"

Tsunade nodded as she finished with the scrolls. "You're kind of right," she admitted. "Let's get going," she ordered as the two began their usual stroll back to the village. The medic turned to her student once more, wanting to explain further, "Remember that chakra control helps reduce the amount of chakra wasted on a jutsu. That means that your jutsu will not only be stronger, since you get to control where the chakra goes exactly, but you'll be able to use them beyond your past limit. Also, we've been working on your chakra capacity, which means that now you'll be able to use a lot more jutsu than before."

Ino grinned, she was finally getting there. Of course it would take time to make a large improvement but she knew to be patient. Her training was going well and she didn't need to rush it. Now she would get to really help out instead of hiding behind her teammates. She couldn't wait to get stronger.

* * *

Naruto let another stick of dango into his mouth, the sweet taste running through his mouth. He chewed on his food as he looked at his new sensei oddly. She ate the meal with a smile on her face, her eyes closing in contempt with each bite. He had never seen someone enjoy a meal that much,

"What are you looking at brat?" Anko as she gulped down her food.

"Nothing," Naruto sighed out, watching as the snake mistress took her sake cup and drank its contents, setting the cup on the table before going back to her dango, "Isn't eating sake and dango a little weird?"

Anko smirked as she used a napkin to wipe her mouth. "I'm insulted," she frowned, "Whatever gave you the idea that I was 'normal?'"

"Good point," the blond muttered, slumping his head on the table. He closed his eyes and let out a yawn. Today's training had been more than demanding and, judging from the lack of memories from his clones, it was still going somewhere on the forest.

"Look alive kid," Anko scolded with a frown. Naruto glared at her, exhaustion written all over his face. She couldn't help but grin, "It's not right to just ignore your guest, right?"

Naruto's ears perked up, "Guest?"

The snake mistress smirked as she rose from her chair. "Sorry I didn't before but, the loser of our little sparring match was going to pay for dinner," she took one final gulp of sake before ruffling the Chunin's hair. "Later, brat. We're gonna start our training tomorrow morning at around seven," with that the kunoichi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, shocking some of the civilian bystanders.

"You are paying for this, right," a rather large man with a shaved head and bushy grey mustached stated with a glare.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he reached for his wallet, she would regret this.

* * *

Ino strolled down the streets of Konoha, making her way home. The sun was setting and the streets were a little crowded. She could see a few couples walking hand in hand and she couldn't help but let out a pout. Naruto had gotten home and they still hadn't gone on a proper date. With all of the training going on, they didn't have too much time to spend together. She made a mental note to ask him on a date later.

"Hey Ino," a voice called out. Ino turned to her side to see Shikamaru walking towards her, his steps really slow and his eyes closed in irritation.

"What is it?" she wondered, it wasn't usual for Shikamaru to look for people.

The lazy Chunin let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was assigned to the shinobi exchange program," he began. Ino's eyes widened slightly at the bit of news, it seemed a bit rare to send a clan member to the Sand. "Anyway," he continued, "I will be leaving tomorrow morning and wanted you to tell the people I know, save them the trouble of asking around. I'll probably be back next week… What a pain in the ass."

"Fine," Ino sighed out, figuring that he had never really asked her for anything.

Shikamaru nodded, digging his hands on his pockets. "I'm off then," he muttered before walking away.

Ino let out a small laugh. He was getting a bit more serious about being a ninja but it didn't change the fact that he was lazy, she didn't think that anything could change that. The kunoichi resumed her trek back home, wondering who should be the first to know.

* * *

It was dark as two Anbu watched over the last of the Uchiha, Sasuke. The young ninja was currently punching a log rigorously. His movements were slow but it was to be expected as he had just been sent out of the hospital a few days ago.

The Anbu continued to watch over the Uchiha before their head snapped to the side, hearing the sound of crunching leaves. The two nodded at each other before rushing at the direction the sound came from, jumping through the branches of the nearby trees. Their heads suddenly perked up before stopping dead on their tracks and jumped down to the ground just as two strings of webs hit the tree branch where they had just been.

The ground beneath them suddenly gave out, a large crater forming beneath them. They jumped away from the ground but were suddenly struck by two large arms, belonging to a large ogre. The two Anbu crashed on the ground. The ground beneath them suddenly rose and covered their bodies, leaving only their heads exposed.

Four shadows walked towards the fallen ninja. The Anbu watched as a figure raised its fist to attack.

* * *

Blood dripped from Sasuke's knuckles as he punched the training log with pure hatred. It wasn't fair. He had been stripped off his title as ninja, now a mere Academy student. He was forced to stay on his house which meant that he wouldn't be able to get any proper training done. And most of all, he had gotten his sharingan taken from him and the culprit was still running around without a care in the world. It just wasn't fair.

"Naruto…" he growled as he punched the log, more blood splattering from his knuckles. He raised his fist once more before hearing a loud impact coming from the outside of his family's compound, "What was that?"

He lowered his arms and walked towards the source of the noise, his steps loud on the quiet compound. His eye narrowed as four shadows jumped over the stone wall surrounding the compound. Sasuke's sharingan came to life as he leapt at one of the shadows, throwing a punch when close enough.

His fist suddenly came to a sudden halt, a larger fist covering his own. "What the-" he was cut off as a large fist met his face, knocking him against the ground. Using momentum Sasuke managed to roll with the impact and raised to his feet, slipping into his taijutsu stance as the four shadows landed in front of him.

Now in the moonlight he could see their appearance. One was a girl with red hair, wearing a black hat with bandages on the sides and a tan tunic with black shorts and shinobi sandals. Another had six arms and wore an outfit similar to the first girl's. The other, who he supposed was the one that attacked him due to his large size, had dull orange hair in an unusual hair style. The last of the group had orange spiky hair and wore the same outfit as the others, though he seemed different somehow.

"Fuck…" the girl of the team growled, "Don't tell us something fucked up your eye."

"I have nothing to tell you," Sasuke responded, rather smugly, his sharingan focusing on the opponents, noticing their headbands, "Tell me... What is Sound trash doing in my compound?"

"Who's going to tell him Tayuya?" the largest of the team asked, ignoring Sasuke's taunt, "I don't want to deliver this kind of news to Lord Orochimaru."

Tayuya scowled. "Don't ask stupid questions. We have the messengers, we don't need to tell him anything directly," she turned back to the Uchiha, eyes narrowing instantly, "You're coming with us."

Sasuke chuckled, "You're nothing but trash." He smirked as he looked at the four Sound ninja in front of him, they wouldn't pose much challenge. After all, Sound shinobi were nothing but a bunch of freaks with no skill, "I'm going to make you regret setting foot here."

"You're very confident," Tayuya smirked, "There's four of us and one of you. You look like shit and lost an eye while we're rested and experienced in killing. Things don't look too good for you, bastard."

The Uchiha ran through hand signs. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" a large fireball left his mouth, heading straight for the Sound Four. All Sound ninja jumped away from the attack and headed for the Uchiha.

Kidomaru smirked as he spit towards the Uchiha, his saliva turning into a web as it wrapped around one of his ankles. Sasuke growled and took out a kunai before running it over the web but let out a growl when it did nothing.

"What kind of web is this?" Sasuke exclaimed as Jirobo closed in on him. Not wasting any time he ran through hand signs once more. "Wind Style: Devastation!" he yelled as a powerful gust of air left his mouth.

"This jutsu again…" Jirobo muttered as he continued to run at the Uchiha, the wind doing nothing to stop his charge. He smirked as he threw a punch at the Uchiha's stomach, blood spilling from his mouth as he doubled over in pain. The Sound ninja followed with a kick to Sasuke's face, hurling him through the air from the cheer force.

Kidomaru smirked as he pulled on the web, smacking the Uchiha against the ground. Sasuke let out a cry of pain as he laid, completely vulnerable, on the ground. His whole body was in pain, his jaw felt as if it was being crushed, his stomach ached and the exhaustion from his training finally caught up with him. For now he could do nothing but look at the Sound ninja, he was at their mercy.

"What the hell do you bastards want?" Sasuke spat.

Tayuya smirked as she stepped on his chest, earning another groan from the Uchiha. She leaned towards him. "We don't want anything with you," she admitted before raising her foot and slamming it against his chest. Sasuke let out a cry of pain, his eye glaring at the ninja, "Lord Orochimaru is interested in you. He wants to make you one of his man. But…by the looks of things you're not strong in the least."

Sasuke glared in pure hatred, the curse seal hot against his skin as black marks covered his face.

"It feels good doesn't it?" Kidomaru suddenly asked, "The power of Lord Orochimaru coursing through your body. Did you know that it can grow to unbelievable levels?"

"W-what?" Sasuke grunted, a little interested in the idea of gaining more power.

"You heard him shithead," Tayuya growled, putting more pressure on the Uchiha's chest, "If you were to come with us then you would gain this kind of power. Who knows? Lord Orochimaru has a lot of experiments, maybe he'll be able to get your eye back."

"There's more ninja coming," the quiet ninja of the group suddenly stated.

Kidomaru chuckled and shook his head, "Who cares? We killed those other Anbu, I'm sure we'll kill the ones that are coming."

"Remember what Lord Orochimaru said," Jirobo broke in, "He said that the Anbu weren't only composed of Jonin. Remember that the ones we killed weren't very strong."

"Fatso is right," Tayuya nodded, ignoring the glare from Jirobo. She stomped on Sasuke's chest one more time before turning to walk away. "Remember what we told you here Uchiha," she said without turning around. She approached her teammates and gave a firm nod, "Let's get going."

Sasuke watched the ninja leave, the dark marks around his face disappearing. He had to admit that he was interested in the prospect of more power but he still didn't trust the snake summoner. There was something else that Orochimaru wanted, of that he was sure but didn't know exactly what. The Uchiha cleared his head, he heard the sound of footsteps which meant that the ninja would be taking him away, he would rest for now and go over things the following day.

* * *

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone. He found himself doing this whenever he was having trouble or when he just felt a bit melancholic. It brought him a sense of peace, his own way of handling stress, other than his reading of course. Looking at the stone he couldn't help but notice that he had been coming here more and more lately. Things weren't very good right now.

He had been thinking of what would become of his team. Their meetings had been scarce in the last few weeks and they would be nonexistent until Sasuke was let out of his home. This meant that he would have to meet with Naruto and Sakura but that would also be in few occasions since his blond student had been rather busy lately. This was assuming that there wouldn't be any bad blood between his students, which was very likely at this point.

His eyes lingered on the names of his old team. He wondered what his mentor, the Fourth Hokage, would have done in his place.

"Kakashi-sensei?" a sudden voice broke him out of his thoughts. Turning around, Kakashi couldn't help but feel surprised, in front of him was a very unlikely visitor.

"It's rather rare to see you here Sakura," he admitted, watching the young kunoichi look down in what he presumed was nervousness, "What can I help you with?"

"...I-I want to get stronger," Sakura let out after a short pause. She looked down with a scowl on her face, "I know things are not good on the team but I want to be able to stand next to Sasuke and Naruto. I want to help them."

Kakashi looked at her oddly, "Help them with what?"

The kunoichi clenched her fists, thinking back at what was happening to her team. Sasuke being influenced by the seal Orochimaru had given him. Naruto going out on missions all the time. This stuff weighed on her, she felt powerless, she felt useless. She didn't want to be left out anymore. "Everything," she admitted, "I want to be able to go on missions with them. I'm not sure of what happened on their last mission but it felt as if I could have done something if I had been there."

"I can see that you're really determined," Kakashi said, his eyes calculating. "I'll find someone to help in your training but before that I have to tell you something," he decided. If he didn't tell her now then things would get bad, he needed to tell her in order to prevent her from doing something stupid.

Sakura looked at him oddly. He had gotten gloomy all of a sudden.

"Sasuke lost his eye because of a fight he had with Naruto."

* * *

Naruto sat on his couch with his arms extended in a show of exhaustion. It had been a while since he had trained so hard but was glad that he was. His clones had finally finished their training and he was a lot more familiar with the taijutsu style. It would, of course, take a little more time to get it to a point where he could use it in a real fight but he was glad nonetheless. Things were looking good. He gazed at his small apartment, noticing that he had yet to clean it up. He scowled before a certain item caught his eye.

A lone book, set on the small table that stood in front of his couch. It was the sealing book Jiraiya had given him some time ago, he had forgotten all about it. With the new training and missions he had had, time to read over the book had been scarce.

He picked up the book and flipped through the pages, a little uninterested by the concept of reading. Jiraiya knew how he loathed sitting down and reading but the sage had been right in telling him to think of it as a kind of training. That thought alone was enough to drive him through pages on occasions. But if he ever found the subject too boring, he would just drop the book and go find something else to do, he guessed that he didn't have the best attention span.

"Alright," Naruto muttered as he began reading where he had left off last time. "_Sealing is an art in which the user is able to transport equipment to an 'alternate dimension' of sorts. By adding chakra to a seal (see page 42 for details) the user is able to call back that equipment at the time of their choosing," _the Chunin scowled before closing the book. He rose from his couch and went over to the kitchen, wondering if he had any leftover ramen. The book forgotten on the couch.

**Ch. 36 End**

**That's it for this chapter. As some of you can see, we will be getting a lot of action in the next few chapters and I'm preparing the characters for it. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	37. Fight at the Rooftop

**Here's the next one. Thanks to those who reviewed and to those of you that added this story to their alerts and favorites. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 37 Fight at the Rooftop**

The sun was setting as Naruto made his way to Ichiraku's. He was a little slow on his step, having trained the whole day, with his face carrying an expression of exhaustion. Today's training had been a little more than demanding. His clones, as usual, had spent the day training on the taijutsu, with a few reading the book on sealing, while he and Anko sparred. Only this time she had him go through several exercises that would increase his speed.

'_You might be a Chunin but I've seen old hags move faster than you!' _

Those had been Anko's word before she made him run through the exercises. The first one had been simple, he only had to enter the river and walk against the current. It had been the second exercise where things had gotten more complicated. He was to do the same thing, only this time he needed to dodge rocks thrown by Anko. But nothing could prepare him for the final exercise of the day.

Anko had summoned a rather large snake. Naruto still remembered the sadistic grin Anko sported as she explained the exercise.

'_Keep the snake from eating you for a total of ten minutes!'_

Naruto shuddered, horrible snake-related memories flooding his mind. He had barely escaped the damned snake but it had only been due to using a variety of jutsu. Those snakes were tough and wouldn't go down with anything but at least he had managed to live through today's 'training.'

He sighed, shoulders slumping slightly, he was tired. This wouldn't be a bad thing if it was regular training but with Anko, being tired could cost him his life. The crazy kunoichi was bound to kill him one day, he was sure. So sure in fact that she was on his list in 'people to watch out for,' the first place being proudly held by Inoichi.

"Naruto! Over here!" he heard Ino call from the distance, waving her hand with a smile on her face.

Naruto smiled, he had been looking forward to this. Earlier that day, he had run into Ino while on his way to the training grounds. He had asked her to go to Ichiraku ramen with him after their training was over. She had gladly accepted and promised to meet him.

"Hey Ino," Naruto greeted with a hug. "Sorry if I kept you waiting long," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

Ino shook her head, "It's alright." She took hold of her boyfriend's hand and pulled him through the streets. Throwing a glance at him, she took note of his wore down expression and couldn't help but ask, "How was your training today? You look pretty tired."

An image of a giant snake flashed through Naruto's mind, his body shivering in fear. "I-it was alright," he let out with a quiet chuckle.

The two continued to walk in confortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company. It had been a while since they had been simply walking through town. It was comforting. Ino leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder, letting out a tired sigh.

"My training was draining," she whispered as her eyes closed, "Master Tsunade had me work on my chakra reserves again. I have close to no chakra left."

Naruto smiled. "Don't worry about it Ino!" his tone playful. "After all you're about to get ramen and there's nothing like it to get your strength back!" he declared, eyes lighting as he gazed at the stand only a few more paces away.

Ino giggled as the two entered the stand, taking a seat as soon as possible. The kunoichi let out a yawn as she leaned on the table, resting her head on her hands. She suddenly perked up when a bowl of steaming ramen was placed in front of her.

"Here you go!" Ayame smiled, "The first one's on the house!"

"Hey, how come I didn't get one?" Naruto complained with a pout.

Ayame giggled and shook her head, "Ladies first. Right Ino?"

"Right," Ino said as she began to eat, too hungry to care about any sort of manners.

Naruto watched Ino with a raised brow. She was eating really fast, almost as fast as he did on occasions. He smiled, it looked like it had been a long day for her. She needed a break from training, by the looks of things she was pushing herself.

"Hey Ino," Naruto suddenly called. Ino turned to her boyfriend with a confused expression on her face, "Why don't we go on a date tomorrow?"

Ino's face lit up as she dropped the chopsticks on her plate. "I'd love to," she beamed, "Where are we going to go?"

Naruto smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't thought about it yet…" he admitted, making Ino sigh. "Don't worry about it Ino. I'll take you somewhere great," he assured, looking down for a brief moment, "I'm just new at this so, sorry if I'm not doing something ri-"

"Don't worry Naruto," Ino broke in, placing a finger on Naruto's lips, "I'm just happy to spend time with you. It doesn't matter where you take me, I'm sure I'll have fun."

"Ino…" Naruto muttered, leaning his head closer to Ino's. A blush graced Ino's cheeks as she leaned closer to the blond, feeling his breath tickle her lips.

"Young love! How very youthful!" a voice exclaimed behind them.

The two blonds jumped back, both sporting blushes on their faces. They turned to the source of the voice to find a smiling Lee with tears rolling down his face.

"A-are you alright Lee?" Ino asked a little awkwardly.

"I was just overwhelmed by the amount of youth that came from you two," Lee laughed.

Naruto looked at Lee a little oddly, "So, what are you doing here Lee?"

The green-clad ninja smiled, his teeth sparkling. "I was asked to spread the good news!" he cheered, "Kiba woke up today!"

Naruto and Ino's eyes widened, smiles forming on their faces. They hadn't heard from Kiba since they got back from their mission to the Sound bases. It seemed as if a lot of time had passed since then.

"That's great," Ino smiled.

"Right," Naruto nodded, turning to Lee, "He's at the hospital, right?"

Lee nodded, "He won't leave for a few days since they're still checking on him."

"Alright," Naruto smiled as he turned to Ino, taking her hand on his, "Ramen can wait today. Let's go visit Kiba."

The blond pulled Ino through the streets, running as fast as he could. "Not so fast Naruto!" Ino exclaimed as the two blondes disappeared in the distance.

Lee watched them leave, his eyes burning with the spirit the two showed. "Alright!" he exclaimed, throwing his right hand in the air, "I'll go tell everyone while walking on two hands! I won't lose to Naruto when it comes to youth!"

Onlookers stepped away from the green-clad ninja, wondering just what was wrong with him.

* * *

Naruto and Ino walked through the hospital's hallways. The couple made it to the waiting room and found it to be filled with some of the 'Rookie 9' along with a few civilians. Among the group of ninja was Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress taken back by seeing her crush come into the room holing Ino's hand.

"Hey guys," Naruto greeted with a grin.

"Nice to see you again. It's been a while," Shino responded with his hands dug into the pockets of his coat.

Choji walked over to the two blondes, his usual bag of chips on hand, "Where have you guys been? I haven't seen either of you in a long time."

Ino smiled, happy to see her friends once more, "We've been busy with training."

"H-how you've b-been Naruto?" Hyuuga managed with a deep blush on her face.

Naruto turned to Hinata with a grin. "I've been great," he answered, his tone light. The Chunin turned to Shino, "How's Kiba?"

"He's doing well I guess, but…" Shino began, his gaze focused on Naruto, "You forgot my name again, didn't you?"

Naruto flinched under the gaze, laughing nervously. "O-of course not," he assured before pulling on Ino's hand. The blonde kunoichi rolled her eyes, her boyfriend could be an idiot sometimes.

"We're going to see Kiba," Ino broke in. taking her boyfriend off the spot.

Hinata watched the two leave with a worried frown on her face. Just what had happened between Naruto and Ino?

* * *

The blonde couple entered one of the hospital rooms, finding Kiba sitting on his bed while looking out the window. The Inuzuka turned at the sound of footsteps, his eyes widening when he saw who his visitors were.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kiba couldn't help but ask.

The last time they had talked, things hadn't been exactly great between them. In fact, they had almost gotten in a fight. Kiba felt that it had been partly, too proud to take the whole blame, his fault since he had almost hurt Ino over a stupid argument.

"We're here to see you," Ino responded calmly, sitting on one of the chairs in the room. Naruto followed after her and took the seat next to her.

The air was awkward around them. None of them had anything to talk about since their relationship wasn't that great. Most of the memories Naruto had of Kiba had been unpleasant. Things had been good between them on their earlier days but things had gone downhill after they became ninja.

"Thanks," Naruto deadpanned suddenly. Kiba turned to Naruto with a look of confusion, having no idea of what he was talking about. Ino, on the other hand, gave her boyfriend a small smile.

"Huh?" Kiba let out.

Naruto grinned, crossing his arms. "You helped me out back in the Sound mission, right?" he asked. Kiba simply nodded, a little dumbly, "I just came by to thank you."

Kiba grinned. "You're getting soft Naruto," he teased, watching the two blondes rise from their seats, "I guess I'll see you guys later."

"We're ecstatic to see you again," Ino muttered in a teasing tone.

Naruto chuckled as he and Ino left the room. "Let's go back to Ichiraku's," the Chunin declared with a frown on his face, placing a hand on his stomach, "I didn't get to eat anything."

Ino smiled as the two walked through the hallway.

"Ino?" A familiar voice called. The coupled turned to their side to see Sakura standing in front of a door with a plate of apple slices.

"Hey Sakura," Ino greeted with a grin, "Are you here to see Kiba too?"

Sakura shook her head, her eyes falling on Naruto. "Sasuke got hurt and I'm here to visit him," she explained.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, "What happened?"

"He was attacked by someone," Sakura began with a scowl on her face, "They're not sure who did it but their looking into it." She paused before looking over the two shinobi, "…Do you want to see him?"

"Um..." Naruto paused, his mouth forming into a scowl. "I guess I should," he muttered, "He's still my teammate right?"

"Right," Sakura nodded with a smile. After talking it over with Kakashi and a lot of pondering on her part, she had come to the conclusion that Naruto wasn't to blame for what happened. She was a little mad at him but their team came first, if her two teammates were able to make peace then everything would go back to normal.

Ino didn't say a word as they entered the room. As soon as they entered they were the subjects of a hardened glare from the last Uchiha before his eye settled on Naruto. The blonde kunoichi watched as Sakura went to sit next to the Uchiha with a nervous smile. The uneasiness was expected since neither of the boys had moved since they saw each other, they were in a kind of staring contest.

"S-Sasuke," Sakura muttered, bringing the plate of apple slices closer to the Uchiha, "I brought you something to eat."

Sasuke kept his gaze on Naruto, his teeth grinding together in a show of anger. "Fight me," he ordered. The Chunin simply frowned, further angering the Uchiha, "I told you to fight me. Right now."

"No," Naruto responded.

"Just calm down, we're in a hospital," Ino broke in, her suggestion apparently falling on deaf ears.

"Are you scared Naruto?" Sasuke smirked, "Could it be that you know for a fact that you can't beat me?"

Naruto turned on his heel and headed for the door. He suddenly stopped and turned back to the Uchiha, "I beat you last time Sasuke. There's nothing to prove anymore."

Sasuke let out a growl as he watched his teammate open the door. He couldn't let him just leave without settling the score. He needed to know the difference between their power.

"H-here Sasuke," Sakura offered the plate of food with an uncertain look. Sasuke turned to the pink-haired kunoichi with a heated glare, knocking the plate of food away with his left hand.

Naruto turned at the sound of shattering glass, seeing Sakura and Ino look at Sasuke in shock. "What the hell are you doing?" he glared, his blue eyes filled with anger, "Sakura's your teammate, you can't treat her like that!"

"Then fight me," Sasuke countered, inwardly smirking at the way Naruto's fists shook. He had known Naruto for some time and knew that the way to get him riled up was to threaten his friends. Threatening others wasn't what he would usually do but he had no choice. He needed to make sure that he was still stronger than Naruto.

"Let's just leave, Naruto," Ino decided, taking a few steps forward before being stopped by a hand wrapping tightly around her wrist. She turned to see Sasuke holding her wrist while glaring at Naruto, "Let me go Sasuke."

Sasuke kept his gaze on Naruto. "If you don't fight me then-"

The Uchiha was cut off by a fist colliding with his face, the cheer force behind the strike throwing him against the room's wall. He glared at the aggressor, Naruto standing in front of Ino with a look of fury he had never seen before.

"N-Naruto," Ino muttered in shock, quickly taking hold of his arm, "Let's just go! If you fight him then you'll get in trouble."

Naruto didn't respond, his eyes focused on the Uchiha. "Listen to me Sasuke…" he began. "I don't care who you are but if you try to hurt Ino, you'll pay," he declared.

Sakura looked at Naruto in pure shock. He had never expected him to attack Sasuke without hesitating. Turning to Ino she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, she wished to have a relationship like that. One where she was put above all else.

Sasuke simply smirked as a trail of blood ran down his mouth. "Let's take this outside Naruto," he replied as he made his way out of the room. He didn't bother checking to see if Naruto was behind him, he would come, he was sure of it.

Naruto watched as Sasuke left the room before following after him. He cast a look at the floor when feeling a warm hand on his, pulling him away from the Uchiha, "I have to do this Ino."

"Why?" Ino exclaimed with a hot tears building up in her eyes. She refused to let them fall as she held onto her boyfriend, "You just got back from training. If you fight Sasuke now, you'll just get hurt!"

The blond Chunin turned to his girlfriend with a sad smile, pulling her into a hug. Ino's eyes widened as her boyfriend hung on to her. "I'll be alright Ino," he assured, closing his eyes and taking in her scent. He pulled away, just enough so that their faces were mere inches away, before giving her a smile, "I promise I won't get hurt."

Ino opened her mouth to argue but was cut off by Naruto's lips on hers. A deep blush covered her face as the blond pulled away, giving her an apologetic smile before leaving the room.

The kunoichi watched him leave with worry written all over her face, just what was he getting himself into?

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke stood opposite of each other on the hospital's room. A cool breeze washing over them, as they simply stared at each other. There were many blankets being dried on the roof, a large fence surrounding the roof, meaning that there wouldn't be much space to move in. It wasn't the best place to fight by Naruto's standards, but at least nobody would get hurt.

"I thought you would come Naruto," Sasuke announced with a smirk on his face, "After all, you've gotten close to that blonde. I mean, you have to be if you attacked me so easily."

Naruto frowned as he slipped into his toad taijutsu style. "Just cut the small talk," he responded, making the Uchiha scowl, "I just came here to knock some sense into you."

Sasuke activated his sharingan as he ran at Naruto at full speed. He smirked when seeing that the blond hadn't moved from his spot, it would be easy. The Uchiha threw a punch with his right hand, the blond quickly ducking under the blow and throwing a punch of his own. Sasuke used his other hand to cover the attack before throwing a kick at the blond's midsection.

Naruto grunted as the foot made contact with his stomach before jumping away from the Uchiha. _'Dammit,' _the Chunin panted with a few drops of sweat trailing down his face, _'Training with Anko left me completely tired. Damned slave driver...'_

The Uchiha watched Naruto with a smirk on his face. He was already tired from their fight, beating him wouldn't be hard. He ran through hand signs, putting a hand around his mouth, _'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.'_

Naruto's eyes widened as the large fireball headed straight for him. _'I'm not going to be able to dodge,' _he concluded. The best he could do was keep the attack from doing too much damage, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The attack collided with its target, raising a large cloud of smoke. Sasuke watched the smoke clear with a smirk on his face, wondering if the fight was over. The smoke cleared to reveal a smirking Naruto with a few burns on his clothing but nothing more, as if the attack hadn't hurt him.

'_How the hell did he take on the attack?' _Sasuke gritted his teeth as his sharingan focused on the enemy. He couldn't ponder on the matter, he was in the middle of a fight after all.

Naruto panted, he had wasted too much chakra on shadow clones. They had taken most of the damage but it had still left him winded. His eyes scanned the area, they were in plain view if a shinobi was to catch wind of their fight then they would get in major trouble. _'I have to end this fast,' _he concluded.

He ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"

Sasuke frowned as he moved away from the incoming orbs of wind, his sharingan catching the hand signs needed for the jutsu. He smirked knowing that he had just gained a new jutsu. The sharingan did more than copy hand sings, it also copied the amount of chakra used for each jutsu, that's what made it possible to recreate them.

The Uchiha jumped up the fence, running through hand signs. "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"

Naruto's eyes widened as the compressed balls of wind approached him. He cursed before dropping down to the floor, dodging the attacks without much trouble. Sasuke might be able to use the jutsu but it didn't mean that he could control it properly. His air bullets had been smaller and slower than his own.

'_I can't keep on giving him jutsu,' _Naruto extended his right hand, gathering wind on his palm. An orb of compressed wind formed on his hand before the Chunin ran at his opponent.

Sasuke ran at Naruto, the curse mark suddenly activating. Black marks covered his face before his pace suddenly increased. The blond Chunin gasped at the sudden change in speed, receiving an elbow to his chest.

Naruto let out a groan of pain as he threw a kick at the Uchiha, who simply leapt away. Sasuke landed a few feet away with a smirk on his face, things were going his way.

"I'll make you a deal Naruto," Sasuke suddenly spoke in a smug tone. Naruto looked at the Uchiha with a frown, wondering what he was up to. Sasuke closed his eyes before pointing a finger at himself, "I want you to say that I am stronger than you. Accept it. You can barely stand, why keep on going?"

Naruto chuckled, his gaze on the ground. "Do you really think that I'll just say that?" he raised his face to meet Sasuke's eyes, "I worked too hard to be stronger than you. I won't throw it all away!"

"Then I'll just take you down," Sasuke lowered his right arm, placing it between his knees. He smirked as a few sparks of electricity covered his hand.

The blond Chunin panted as he struggled to keep standing. His body was groaning in protest with each movement, his legs were numb and his vision was blurry. Due to experience he knew that he was suffering from the first stages of chakra exhaustion, he wouldn't last much longer.

Sasuke broke into a run, his attack chirping loudly as he closed in on the blond. More black marks covered his face, his pace increasing once more. Naruto was taken aback by the speed, his legs too numb to move.

"Chidori!"

* * *

Ino and Sakura sped through the stairs of the hospital. The Yamanaka knew that Naruto was tired from his training and wouldn't be able to fight properly. If he wanted to fight then fine, but she would be there to back him up.

Sakura, on the other hand, wanted to stop the fight at all costs. Sasuke had just been in bed a few minutes ago and wasn't in condition to fight. She just wanted these problems to end, it was breaking them apart. Soon there would be nothing left of their team.

Both kunoichi threw open the doors leading to the rooftop to see Sasuke running at Naruto with a Chidori on hand. Ino let out a gasp when seeing that her boyfriend wouldn't be able to dodge.

"Chidori!"

Not waiting another second the kunoichi ran through hand signs, "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

A torrent of water shot out of Ino's mouth. Sasuke let out a surprised gasp as the attack hit him on the side, pushing him away from Naruto. His Chidori deactivated as he was slammed against the roof's fence.

The kunoichi ran at Naruto, her eyes full of worry. "Naruto!" she placed a hand around his shoulders, helping him stand, "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright," he assured, eyes focused on Sasuke. The Uchiha rose from the ground and glared at Ino, almost trembling with rage. Naruto turned to Ino with a serious expression, "You have to get out of here Ino. Things are getting dangerous."

"I'm staying," Ino deadpanned with no room to argue.

Naruto smiled, pulling away from Ino. "Alright then," he muttered. He slipped into his taijutsu style, "I'll be counting on you to watch my back."

Ino nodded with determination on her eyes. She had been training for this. Training to stand next to Naruto. He didn't have to do everything on his own, she would make sure of it.

Sasuke glared at the couple, his fists shaking in rage. Ino had taken away his chance to prove himself stronger than Naruto. "I'll kill you both," he growled, more black marks spreading through his face.

"No you won't," came a lazy voice from behind him. The Uchiha turned around to come face to face with Kakashi, his eye calculating, "You're not fighting anyone anymore Sasuke."

The Uchiha scowled before jumping away from the roof. The fight was over for now, Kakashi wouldn't allow it to continue. For now he had his answer. He needed to fight Naruto once more, this time without anyone interrupting and he knew just what to do.

Kakashi watched Sasuke leave before turning to the rest of the shinobi present. "What were you two doing?" he scolded before turning to the kunoichi standing near the door, "You should have done something to stop them Sakura."

"It's alright Kakashi-sensei," Naruto broke in, "Sasuke was just being stubborn again, don't worry."

Ino looked at her boyfriend in worry. What was he thinking? Of course they had to worry, Sasuke was attacking teammates and he had almost been badly hurt if she had been a second late.

Kakashi looked at his student blankly before finally nodding. "Alright then," he sighed out. "I'm going to treat you as a Chunin. If anything goes wrong in your judgment then you'll be responsible for your actions," he warned before leaving in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto closed his eyes, wondering what he would do about the situation in hand.

* * *

It was dark as Naruto, Ino and Sakura sat on the stool at Ichiraku's. The Chunin ate his meal rigorously, eyes closed in enjoyment. Ino ate at a slower pace but with the same enjoyment, having grown fond of the food. Sakura, on the other hand, only pecked at her food with a sad expression. Her mind clearly elsewhere.

"That was good," Naruto declared as he set his final plate down.

Ino smiled as she pushed her plate to the side, "It was. But you're paying right?"

Naruto pouted. "Yeah, yeah," he took out his frog wallet and took out the necessary money, setting it on the stool. "Well… I guess we should get going," he started but scowled when seeing Sakura's sad expression. He let out a sigh as he rose from his chair, "Quit worrying about Sasuke already."

Sakura turned to the blond in shock, "W-what are you talking about? Of course I'll worry about him."

"It's not like that," he began, "What I'm saying is that you don't need to worry about him. He'll go back to normal in no time. Right now he's only acting weird because of the hickey."

"What are you talking about?" Ino asked with a raised brow.

"On our mission to Sound we were to find information on the Cursed Seal of Heaven," he explained, the two kunoichi giving him their full attention, "From what we found out, it changes the way people act. I'm not exactly sure of how it does it but I'm sure Jiraiya-sensei is working on a way to get rid of it. So quit worrying already."

"R-right," Sakura nodded, feeling a bit of reassurance from his words.

"Let's get going Ino," Naruto nodded at his girlfriend as he left the stand.

"We'll see you later Sakura," Ino smiled as she followed after her boyfriend.

Sakura let out a sigh after the two left. Things with Sasuke might not be going well but there was still hope. Right now she didn't care about her crush on him, she just wanted him to be back to normal. And with Naruto on the job, she was sure that things would turn out great.

* * *

Naruto and Ino stood on the outside of her home. The kunoichi turned to her boyfriend with a worried look on her face. She knew that there was more to Naruto, there always was.

"What do you really think about Sasuke?" she asked suddenly.

Naruto smiled, not really surprised at Ino knowing how he felt. "I'm not sure," he admitted, turning his gaze to the star-filled sky, "I was just trying to cheer Sakura up but I don't think Sasuke will ever be the same. No. I think we just had a wrong view of Sasuke from the start."

Ino smiled sadly, pulling the blond into a hug. "Don't worry," she whispered, "I'm sure things will go back to normal."

Naruto chuckled as he held his girlfriend. "Now I'm the one needing someone to cheer me up," he pointed out, earning a giggle from Ino. He took in her scent as he closed his eyes, "And you always find a way to do it."

The kunoichi pulled away from the blond and gave him a light peck on the lips. "I have to get going now," she smiled sadly, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," he grinned, "We still have that date tomorrow."

"Right," Ino beamed, having forgotten about it due to the day's events.

"I'll see you tomorrow after training," Naruto waved good-bye before making his way home.

Once he was a good distance away from Ino's home, Naruto frowned. He had a feeling that things would get complicated and he was running out of patience. If he was to fight Sasuke again he knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to hold back. He didn't see him as a friend anymore, he had threatened Ino.

Naruto shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts. He had another training session the next day, thinking about something else could get him killed. For now he would focus on his training and nothing else.

**Ch. 37 End**

**That's it for this one guys. I don't know why this one was hard to write but I'm glad I got through it. I hope that it didn't turn out bad. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	38. The New Hokage

**Hey guys, here's the next chapter. I've finally hit 500 reviews and decided to do something special. **

**Next chapter will come out tomorrow as a show of thanks to you guys. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 38 The New Hokage**

Naruto and Anko stood opposite of each other, the latter with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Judging by the smirk, so early in their training, the blond knew that it would be a long one. He just hoped that it wouldn't be a 'run-for-you-life' kind of exercise again.

A few clones were scattered through the area, all of them training. Naruto had half of the clones working on taijutsu while the rest read over and practiced sealing. He might find the book boring but his clones would be able to do it for him, at least for the time being, he planned to read over the book himself later on.

"Listen up brat," Anko began with her usual commanding voice, "Today we're going to train your overall speed. By this I don't only mean how fast you can move. I'm talking about how fast you run through hand signs, throw kunai and, of course, your reaction time. Even if you were the fastest shinobi in the world, you would be nothing without good reflexes."

"Got it," Naruto nodded, motioning for Anko to keep going.

"We'll be going through this all day so don't go pick fights once this is over," she scolded with narrowed eyes. Naruto flinched under her gaze, wondering if she found out about the previous day's events. "Anyway…" she trailed off before pointing at her feet, "We ninja can use chakra to enhance our abilities. Today I'll be teaching you how to use your chakra to enhance you speed."

Naruto held up a hand, a frown on his face. "Wait a minute…" he glared at his current teacher, "If I could just use chakra to get faster why did you have that giant snake chase me yesterday? If I could have just increased my speed with chakra, then why was that necessary?"

"What's this?" Anko smirked, "Does someone want me to summon the snake again?"

"N-no. Of course not," Naruto yelped while sweating bullets. He had been terrified of that thing.

Anko let out a laugh as she walked closer to the blond. "Well then," she focused chakra to her feet, her pace suddenly getting faster.

The Chunin slipped into his new taijutsu style, already knowing how his teacher liked to 'teach.'

"Remember to use chakra on your feet," Anko pointed out, giving the blond a few seconds to get ready.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, gathering the chakra on his feet. Once he was happy with the results he opened his eyes, giving a nod to his teacher.

"Let's begin then," the snake mistress smirked as she ran at the blond.

The blond Chunin smirked, this would be a fun spar. He took a single step before the chakra beneath his feet suddenly rose too high and shot him up the air.

Anko laughed as she saw the brat being hurled through the air, this would be a fun training session indeed.

* * *

Ino focused on the fish beneath her hands. A green glow emitting from them as she tried to bring life back to the dead fish. A trickle of sweat tran down her face as she focused on the fish. She let out a short gasp as the green glow flickered before finally disappearing.

"That's enough for now Ino," Tsunade said as she walked over to her student with a proud smile on her face. The young kunoichi was progressing in an outstanding pace, it reminded her of the first lessons she gave Shizune. It would take time but she would be great in medical jutsu.

Ino nodded as she let out a sigh. Turning to her teacher she cocked her head to the side. "Why did we stop so soon?" it was true. Whenever she began her training with the fish, it would last a lot more than it just did. Either the training was over or her master had something to say.

"I needed to tell you something," Tsunade stated as she crossed her arms, "I will be taking over the title of Hokage."

Ino's eyes widened, an exited smile on her face, "That's great."

Tsunade nodded with a small smile. "The Third couldn't handle the job at his age so he asked me to take over," she explained. "The council agreed rather easily, the same with the Jonin. However, this will have some effect on your training," a worried look washed over Ino's face, "Don't worry much about it. I'll be taking over some things now but I won't publicly be the Hokage until a month from now."

Ino cocked her head to the side, not really understanding how exactly it would affect their training. She wouldn't be Hokage until the following month.

"Let me explain better," Tsunade continued, noticing her student's confused look. "I'll be taking over functions given to the Hokage. the Third will run me through the functions, it'd be training of sorts," she explained, "Tomorrow I'll start doing the Hokage's paperwork and meetings with him as my advisor. That's how it's going to go until they publicly announce me as Hokage."

Ino nodded, "So what you're saying is that once the month is up, you'll be a lot more busy with Hokage things?"

"That's right," Tsunade responded, "But don't worry. It won't interfere with our training too much, all we'll have to do is change our location to somewhere closer to the Hokage tower."

"Alright," Ino turned to her teacher with a smile, "So, what's next for my training?"

"We'll just train on your chakra control and reserves for the rest of the day," Tsunade informed, "Don't expect to go home until its dark."

Ino's eyes widened slightly. "W-wait master Tsunade," she muttered a little nervously, the medic had that effect on people. Tsunade turned to her student with a raised brow. Ino let out a sigh before speaking, "It's just that I have to leave a little early today."

Tsunade scowled, "Why's that?"

Ino blushed, "I have a date."

"A date?" Tsunade sighed out incredulously, "You want to stop our training early for a date?"

"It's not just a date," Ino reasoned, "It's our official first date. Plus, it's not normal for Naruto to agree to this kind of things."

Tsunade furrowed her brows, "A date with Naruto?"

"Yeah," Ino muttered, "He's my boyfriend after all."

The medic smiled, this being the first time she had heard it. Or course she had heard rumors from the young ninja that lazed around the hospital from time to time but she had never heard it from the source. Still, dropping training just for a date seemed a bit too much. But, seeing the way look of hope in her student's eyes, she couldn't deny her.

Tsunade let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Fine, you can go," Ino cheered, much to the medic's nerves. "However!" she said loudly, getting the attention of the younger kunoichi, "This will be the only time that I allow this to happen."

"Don't worry I got it," Ino nodded with a smile, "Thank you master Tsunade."

Tsunade smirked, "You won't be thanking me later."

* * *

Orochimaru snarled as he sat on his throne-like chair. The last bit of new had been anything but pleasing. According to his remaining ninja, Sasuke had lost an eye. Such a thing was unacceptable. He needed both eyes.

If he was to learn all jutsu then he needed both sharingan. There were countless of secret jutsu available only to the Uchiha. In order to unlock them, a pair of sharingan eyes was needed. It would be the only way for him to reach his goal.

"Kabuto…" he called harshly, his eyes burning with anger. Next to him, Kabuto flinched under the harsh tone. Orochimaru was not one to lose his cool but when he did, there was nothing that could stand his wrath, "Get Kimimaro… I want him to make sure that Sasuke is taken here as soon as possible. I can't risk him getting hurt again."

"Will be done Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto bowed before leaving the room.

Orochimaru clenched his fists, a growl emitting from his lips. The person that took his eye sharingan would pay dearly. He would make sure to make their death as painful as possible.

* * *

Naruto panted as he laid on the ground. His training long over now since Anko had let him leave early. Thanks to his clones he had gained new knowledge on seals, though it was only scratching the surface of something much deeper. On the other hand, his taijutsu had increased by leaps and bounds. The training his clones went through, added to the countless spars with Anko, had sped up his training.

He suddenly scowled, thinking back to one of the memories he had received from one of the clones. One of them had decided to play hooky and went to explore the nearby woods. It had run into some large webs and had gotten stuck before something ran cleanly over its neck.

At the time Naruto had been in the middle of a spar and received a heavy blow on his face. He had asked Anko about the weird occurrence but she had simply waved it off and told him that the woods were full of weird creatures.

Naruto stood up, dusting his pants before walking towards the woods. He looked up at the sky, it was still early so he could afford to waste a few minutes, he didn't need to see Ino until sunset. He let out a sigh as he entered the woods, scanning the area around him but finding nothing out of the ordinary.

He jumped up the branch of a tree to see a few webs here and there. The place seemed familiar, meaning that his clone had passed through there. The Chunin jumped down to the ground, walking through the woods with a frown on his face.

His eyes darted through the area before he let out a sigh. "I'm being too paranoid," he concluded. A growl emitted from his stomach, making the blond frown and place a hand on it. "I might as well leave," he shrugged before turning on his heel and leaving the area.

* * *

"Don't you dare fucking move," Tayuya growled. She had a hand covering Kidomaru's mouth and pointed a kunai to the ninja's neck with the other.

The blond ninja they had fought before could be seen disappearing in the distance. Only a few minutes ago he had been steps away from seeing them but had suddenly left. She and her team had stayed in the shadows before Kidomaru decided that it would be a good idea to attack.

Tayuya released the Sound ninja and glared. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" she growled, "If I tell you to do something. You do it."

Kidomaru snarled. "Why couldn't we just kill the bastard?" he asked in anger, "I could have killed him easily."

"He's right," Jirobo broke in.

The last Sound Four member simply looked at them, not really interested in what they were talking about.

"You two don't know shit," Tayuya face palmed at the stupidity of the idiots she had been stuck with. "Remember the fight we had with that ninja," she began, "We could kill him if we fight together but it would be too loud. The last thing we need is to bring attention to ourselves."

Kidomaru scowled while Jirobo let out a frustrated sigh, neither of them liking the ways things were. They wanted revenge on the blond that had fought them back on their invasion.

Tayuya looked at her team and frowned, she couldn't wait until she was free of the two idiots.

* * *

Ino smiled as she finished getting ready. She looked herself over in the mirror and smiled, happy with the way she looked. She wore an outfit similar to her ninja one. It was made up of a purple blouse, with a few flower decorations on the lower left side, and a purple skirt that reached a little over her knees.

She didn't really like civilian clothing since it seemed too plain for her. That's why she managed to recreate her ninja outfit using civilian clothing, she liked the way it looked and was told that it was great.

She looked over herself one more time before finally leaving her room and heading to the living room. Her parents sat on a couch, engaged in conversation before looking at Ino oddly.

"Why are you wearing that?" Inoichi asked in confusion.

Ino smiled. "I have a date with Naruto today," she announced. Inoichi's eyes widened, a sign that he was panicking while Ino's mom simply smiled.

"Well, have fun," Miki giggled.

"Wait a minute," Inoichi put a hand on his chin and looked towards the door, "I want to have a word with Naruto before you two leave."

Miki turned to her husband, "What are you going to tell him?"

"I'm going to give him a few pointers," Inoichi winked with a smirk while on the inside he was in turmoil. His little princess was going on a date with a boy, nature's parasite. He had been a boy before so he knew of their true nature.

A knock on the door got the attention of the family, Ino smiling and going to answer the door. Inoichi rose from his seat and walked after his daughter, keen on getting having a few words with the blond.

"Honey…" Miki called with a glare.

Inoichi flinched under the glare before laughing nervously. "I just wanted to stretch," he sat back down on the sofa, shrinking under his wife's gaze.

* * *

Naruto stood outside Ino's home. He wore black Anbu pants without the usual kunai holster. Deciding to wear something different, he wore one of the shirts he had bought on his mission to the Sand village. A white long-sleeved shirt with red stripes running along the sleeves.

He wondered if he was presentable, never having experienced a date before. Sure, he spent time with Ino all the time but this was completely different. Here they were supposed to just spend time alone and act more like a couple than usual. At times like this he wished he could just ask Jiraiya but then again, his advice might not be the best.

His head perked up when the door opened, revealing Ino ready for the date. Her clothes were much like her usual but at the same time, they made her look stunning.

"Hi Naruto," Ino greeted with a smile, a light blush on her cheeks. "Are you ready for the date?" she asked but got no answer, Naruto simply looking at her with a dark blush on his face, "Are you okay Naruto?"

"Y-yeah," Naruto answered nervously, realizing he had been staring. He took her hand and began to lead with a smile on his face, "Let's get going."

The two walked through the streets of the village, earning looks from the onlookers. Some of them smiled, remembering their younger days while others looked at them in shock. Ino took note of the looks but didn't care, today was just about her and Naruto.

It wasn't long before they reached a restaurant near the Hokage Tower. The place wasn't fancy or anything but it was still good for a first date. They approached the building before Naruto stopped on his tracks and looked at the place with a scowl.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked in worry.

"N-nothing," Naruto responded with a nervous smile, gripping Ino's hand a little tighter, "Let's get going."

Ino looked at her boyfriend in concern. "We don't have to eat here if you don't want to," she assured, "We could just walk around the village and have dinner at my house."

Naruto shook his head, releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "I'm alright, we can eat here," he persisted as the two entered the building. The blond couldn't help but feel nervous since not all establishments allowed him to enter. It was normal for them to just deny him service but, looking at Ino, he wanted to give the place a chance.

The two approached a man wearing a suit, greeting each costumer with a polite smile. The couple stiffened when the man's eyes landed on Naruto, looking at him through squinted eyes.

"H-hey, I'd like a table for two," the blond muttered nervously.

The man focused his gaze on Naruto before finally smiling in excitement, "You're Naruto Uzumaki, right?"

"Eh?" Naruto let out in confusion.

"He is," Ino broke in with a polite smile.

The man's smile grew as he gripped the blond's hands. "It's very nice to meet you," he began with an exited smile, "I wanted to thank you in person but never had the chance."

"Thank me for what?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"For saving the village of course," the man smiled, "You were the one that stopped the rampaging monster outside the village after all… Oh! Excuse my manners, you'd like a table right?"

Naruto looked at the man dumbly, not knowing what exactly was going on.

"We do," Ino answered for him.

"Then follow me," the man instructed as he led them to a table. The couple ended up sitting down near a large window with a clear view of the Hokage Monument. "If you need anything then please tell me," the man smiled, "I'll get someone to take your orders."

"Thanks," Naruto muttered with a small grin. The man nodded before leaving.

Ino smiled at her boyfriend. "Looks like you have some fans," she pointed out. Naruto nodded with a smile, his eyes lighting in happiness. The young kunoichi let out a sigh of relief. It looked as if some people were starting to come around when it came to Naruto. By the way he was smiling, she guessed that he had never had this kind of treatment before.

'_You deserve this Naruto,' _she thought happily.

* * *

The rest of the night went on without a hitch. The two enjoyed dinner and left the restaurant, not before finding out that the man that greeted Naruto had been the owner of the restaurant. After dinner the two walked around the village for a while before finally calling it a day. It had gotten dark out and, for some reason, Naruto knew that he should get Ino back home as soon as possible. Something inside of him told him that Inoichi wouldn't appreciate him keeping his daughter for so long.

The couple walked through the streets hand in hand, happy to have each other's company. Ino enjoyed the date, it had been her first and was happy with the experience. Although Naruto had been acting a little awkward, surrounded by so many villagers, the two managed to have a good date.

"I had fun," Ino said as soon as they were standing in her doorway.

"Really?" Naruto asked with a raised brow. Ino replied with a nod, making the blond let out a sigh of relief. "Good," he sighed out, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "It was my first time doing something like this so I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Exactly what were you two doing!" Inoichi yelled as he threw open the door, instantly glaring at Naruto, "What did you do to my little princess?"

Naruto yelped, raising his hands in a defensive manner. "W-we just had a date!" he let out in terror. Inoichi simply moved closer to the blond, making him take a step back, "I'm serious. We just went out to eat."

"My, my," Miki smiled from the doorway, a frying pan in her hand. "What are you doing here Inoichi?" she asked as she pulled on the man's ear. Inoichi was wide-eyed as his wife dragged him inside, her eyes burning in silent fury.

The couple watched the door close, neither of them saying anything.

"Um," Ino mumbled before turning to Naruto. She smiled as she pulled him into a hug, closing her eyes, "Thanks for the date."

"Yeah," Naruto replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He suddenly pulled away with a smile on his face, "Do you want to train with me tomorrow? You have tomorrow off so you could just go with me."

"You mean with that weird ninja you keep talking about?" she asked a little hesitantly.

Naruto shook his head. "She gave me the day off tomorrow," he began, "We could train on each other's jutsu again. It'll be fun."

Ino pecked him on the lips, pulling away with a small smile, "I'd love to."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he muttered, pecking Ino on the lips before taking a few steps back.

"Good-night Naruto," Ino smiled.

"Have a good night Ino," Naruto responded before making his way back to his apartment, looking forward to the next day.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk with his usual pipe on his mouth. In front of him sat his old student Tsunade, the medic holding a look of seriousness. She would be taking over some duties of the Hokage the next day, the Third didn't think that anyone else was more suited for the job. Tsunade loved her village and was an excellent kunoichi.

"What was it that you wanted to tell me?" Tsunade asked, her eyes narrowed.

The Third let out a puff of smoke, his mouth forming into a thin line. This would be the first time a Hokage would retire. All knowledge of Konoha's affairs would go to Tsunade, along with secrets he had kept for the good of the village. He trusted Tsunade would do good with the secrets.

"You will start as the Hokage next month," he began, "I'll be helping you with the next few days but you have to know of the village's secrets before any of this begins."

Tsunade nodded slowly. Konoha was really secretive when it came to certain issues, she knew that much. A few of the secrets had leaked over the years but they were vague and only known to a handful of ninja, most were dead now but managed to pass on bits of information. Tsunade, herself, knew a few of the secrets the village held. Naruto's heritage was one of the things she was aware of, having been close to his mother. All other kinds of secrets could be passed on as speculation since there was no proof to support them.

Hiruzen inhaled the contents of his pipe, closing his eyes in a show of exhaustion. "I trust that you won't tell anyone about this," the Third begin, getting a nod from the legendary medic. He let out a sigh before letting his hands fall on the desk, "Then let's begin."

**Ch. 38 End**

**That's it for this one guys. **

**Remember that next chapter comes out tomorrow, make sure to stay with the story.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	39. Persuaded

**Here's the next chapter guys. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 39 Persuaded**

Tayuya watched her team with a frown plastered on her face. They were all idiots. No exceptions. She had been pleased to find out that she would be the new leader of the Sound Four since Ukon and Sakon had been captured. Since then she had been forced to missions with the two idiots that were left until the new member arrived.

She turned to the new member, watching as he watched the terrain with a phased look. He rarely spoke, which she was grateful for, but his silence was getting on her nerves. Not only that, but for some reason Orochimaru had given them an order to follow above all else. If they were to be defeated, they had to make sure that the member got away . The snake summoner didn't explain anything else, just that he was really important.

The Sound kunoichi suddenly turned to the side, the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. She assumed that it was a Sound ninja since they had hidden in the middle of a dark forest. Their earlier run in with the blond had forced them to go deeper into the woods in order to avoid running into someone else.

"What are you doing here?" Tayuya scowled. The ninja in front of her made her uneasy. Whenever he went out on a mission, he would end up killing anyone that hadn't done the job correctly. Her eyes narrowed, if the bastard got close to her then she would kill him.

Kimimaro walked into the area, his face showing no emotion. "I have come with news of Lord Orochimaru," he said flatly. The Four sound ninja turned to the newly arrived teen, "He has decided that I will be placed on this mission."

"What kind of bullshit is that?" Tayuya snapped, "Does he think we can't do our job?"

"Things have gotten complicated," Kimimaro explained with an unchanged tone, paying little mind to Tayuya's earlier outburst. "We will need to mobilize earlier than expected," he went on, "We'll need to get Lord Orochimaru's new body safely to the Sound Village as soon as possible."

* * *

Naruto let out a sigh as he knelt next to the small river in the training grounds he frequented. He had tried to get the basic exercises for water control down but it was too hard for him. If things went on like this, he would end up taking days to complete just one exercise.

Using clones would speed up the process exponentially but, due to Ino saying that it wasn't fair to do that, he was forbidden to use them for training. He pouted as he turned to the side, easily spotting Ino glaring at a leaf held tightly on her right hand. From his spot he could see that she wasn't anywhere close to getting the smallest cut in the leaf, served her right for forbidding him from using clones.

"How's it going over there Ino?" he teased with a foxy grin, Ino instantly turning to him with a heated glare. He suppressed a chuckle. She would always get like this when things didn't go her way, of course it would be easy just to ask for help but she wouldn't do that. Not yet anyway. It would take at least one more day for her to finally give in and ask him to lead her in the right direction.

The Chunin turned back to the river and placed his hands above the water's surface. Since he didn't have a natural affinity for water jutsu he had to begin with the simplest of exercises. In this particular one he had to make a whirlpool in the water, no matter how small, in order to start developing his water control.

"Hey Ino," he called with his gaze on the nonmoving water.

Ino sighed, letting the leaf fall from her hand. She couldn't help but notice the lack of progress as it fell on the ground, "What is it?"

Naruto plopped down on the ground, deciding to try the exercise some other time. "How did you learn this? It's freaking hard," he complained.

Ino smiled as she kneeled next to the blond. "Here look," she instructed, placing her hands on the water's surface. Naruto sat up and watched as the water beneath Ino's hands began to swirl, soon forming a small whirlpool, "All you have to do is use the water as an extension of your chakra. Like the chakra in your body, the water flows. Just give it a try while keeping that in mind."

"Alright…" Naruto muttered as he placed his hands on the water's surface, closing his eyes in concentration. He poured chakra through his hands, the water beneath him splashing. His hands glowed with blue chakra as he focused on moving the water.

Ino's eyes widened, she knew where this was going. "Wait Naruto-"

The water beneath Naruto's hands suddenly erupted, leaving the couple soaked.

Naruto looked at his girlfriend in shock, a wave of fear washing over him. "S-sorry about that," he urgently apologized, seeing the state she was in. Her clothes were completely soaked and her face was now covered by her wet hair.

"Naruto…" she growled.

The Chunin let out a nervous laugh, wondering if he would be able to live through the rest of the day.

* * *

The blond couple walked through the streets at a steady pace, both carrying happy expressions. Asuma had called for them to have dinner at the barbeque place they frequented. Naruto had been a little surprised to have been invited, since he believed it was a kind of team meeting, but Ino simply smiled and told him to go with her.

The two walked hand in hand, both of them liking the touch. Naruto spared a glance at his girlfriend, a small smile forming on his face. It was thanks to her that he had gotten great friends. Sure he talked to Shikamaru and Choji before but it was only on rare occasions, he never imagined that he would get close to them. It had gotten to the point where he actually preferred being with them than with his team, which wouldn't be a surprise because of earlier incidents.

"What?" Ino muttered in confusion, "Do I have something on my face?"

Realizing he had been staring, Naruto turned to the road ahead. "I was just lost in thought," he admitted.

"Thinking about what?" she wondered, receiving a confused look from the blond. She blushed slightly with a frown on her face, "It's not like I want to know what's going through your head all the time. I was just asking because you were staring at me."

Naruto smirked. "Do you really want to know what I was thinking?" he asked, moving his eyebrows up and down.

Ino blushed and turned away from the Chunin, "Shut up."

"I'm just teasing, no need to get mad," Naruto laughed, earning a glare from the kunoichi.

As she was about to retort, a flash of pink caught her eye. "Sakura?" she called uncertainly. Said girl turned around, her eyes widening slightly before walking over to them.

"We've been running into each other a lot," Sakura pointed out, "Aren't you guys usually training around this time of day?"

"We got the day off," Ino replied with a happy smile, Naruto nodding in agreement.

Sakura nodded absently, her mind clearly elsewhere, "I see…"

Naruto looked at his teammate oddly before feeling a light nudge on his ribs. He turned to see Ino look at him expectedly. Confused, he glanced at Sakura once more and knew exactly what his girlfriend was thinking.

"Hey Sakura," Naruto called, gaining the attention of the young kunoichi, "We're on our way to have dinner with Choji and Asuma-sensei. Wanna come?"

Sakura turned her gaze to the floor before mumbling, "I don't think-"

"What a great idea Naruto!" Ino exclaimed cheerfully. She moved next to Sakura and took hold of her arm. "Let's get going already," she instructed as she began to pull her friend along, "We don't want to keep them waiting."

Naruto walked behind the girls with a grin. Sakura had been feeling down, probably still worried about the situation with Sasuke, and Ino had quickly picked up on it. He had heard that Ino and Sakura had been best friends once upon a time. It was hard to believe with their past rivalry but, seeing them now, he knew that it had been true.

"Come on Naruto!" Ino called from the distance, making the blond realize that he had been spacing out and gotten left behind.

"I'm coming!" he yelled as he jogged over to the two kunoichi, noticing that Ino wasn't pulling Sakura along anymore.

Ino crossed her arms with a pout. "Geez Naruto…" she mumbled before suddenly latching onto his arm. She turned to face him with a small smile, "A boyfriend is supposed to walk like this with his girlfriend."

Naruto chuckled nervously with a light blush on his face, "Y-yeah."

Sakura watched the two with an almost look of sadness on her face. She wondered why she couldn't be in Ino's situation. Having a boyfriend that took care of her and understood her was a dream come true. But, by the looks of things, she wouldn't get her dream anytime soon. Things were bleaker with each passing day and she had a feeling that it would only get worse.

But, glancing at the happy couple, she knew that not all was lost. Naruto had given his word to keep Sasuke in check and she found reassurance in his words. In no time they would go back to being the normal Team 7 again. She would get to spend time with Sasuke and have a chance to be with him. She could only count on the blond to make it a reality.

* * *

Danzo sat on a dark room. Only his large chair and few parts of the room were visible, everything else covered by darkness. The elder switched his gaze to the space in front of him, a cloud of smoke suddenly appearing before him. The smoke cleared to reveal a shinobi kneeling over, his face masked by the room's darkness.

"I trust you have come with news on Sasuke," the elder stated.

"Yes sir," the ninja replied, never moving his gaze from the floor, "Just as you asked. We have lowered the security around him and have replaced all of the Anbu guards with Root members."

"Yesterday he fought the jinchuuriki," the ninja went on, getting a look of attention from the elder, "The fight ended with the intrusion of Kakashi Hatake. The Uchiha left and has spent his time on the Uchiha compound."

"Very well. I want you to get lower ranking ninja to look after the Uchiha. Things are calm and there's no use wasting my strongest man on a simple mission," Danzo ordered, "You're dismissed."

The ninja hesitated for a second before looking up slightly. "If I may sir," the ninja began, "Why do you wish for us to keep low security on the Uchiha?"

"It's because of what I have planned," Danzo answered calmly, "A person with a wounded pride is easier to control than a person with no pride. If I let him run around then he'll get in fights he can't win. When that time comes, Sasuke will be lower than dirt. That's when I'll approach him."

Without a reply the Root ninja left in a cloud of smoke. The elder frowned, it wasn't like his ninja to ask questions. They simply followed orders blindly without questioning him. It seemed he had to fix this certain member.

* * *

"That was great," Choji smiled as he patted his stomach.

Naruto grinned from his seat, "It wasn't as good as ramen but it was still good."

Ino sighed, "Looks like nothing can take your mind off ramen."

"He's always been like this," Sakura added, shaking her head in disappointment, "Back when Kakashi-sensei took us out to eat, Naruto always ended up finding a way to eat ramen. I thought that he'd be over it by now."

"I'll never get tired of ramen," Naruto frowned, placing a hand over his heart, "I just couldn't live without it."

Asuma watched the young ninjas with an amused smile. "Listen up," he broke in, gaining the attention of the three shinobi, "The reason I brought you guys here is to tell you that I'll be living on an extended mission soon. It will take around a month or two for it to be complete. I just wanted to let you guys know before I left."

Choji smiled. "You picked a great way to say it," he stated happily, "There's no better way to say goodbye than with a good meal."

"You might be right…" Naruto muttered as he placed a hand on his chin. "Maybe I should always get a big meal before I leave for a mission. That way I won't miss ramen as much," he nodded to himself, liking the idea.

"He can be a dork sometimes," Sakura muttered to Ino with an annoyed look on her face.

Ino smiled tenderly as she watched her boyfriend. He might be completely serious while on missions but when in the village, he was back to normal. Her eyes softened as she gazed at Naruto, "But he's my dork."

* * *

It was dark as Sasuke stood in front of the training log he used every day. He had a scowl on his face as he gazed at the log, an image of a smirking Naruto appearing before him. Their fight hadn't been finished. He wanted to settle the score once and for all. He was tired of waiting.

His sharingan activated as he gazed around the area, picking up a few chakra signatures. They were watching him, preventing him from unlocking his true potential. He fingered the mark on his shoulder subconsciously.

The time felt right to him, he would get to fight Naruto without anyone interrupting. He had thought about this ever since the time he had been approached. The fight with Naruto had served to show him that he wasn't at his old level. Only Orochimaru could make him stronger now.

Making up his mind he jumped to the roof of his house. A smirk appeared on his face as he kicked off the roof and headed for the village's gate, if he ran then Naruto would be sure to follow. Then they would finally see who was stronger.

* * *

The two ninja watching over the Uchiha immediately followed after he made a mad dash out of the compound. By the direction he was taking, it was evident that he was headed out of the village. The brown cloaks they wore fluttered as they ran, their respective white masks shining in the moonlight.

As one of the ninja leapt in the air, a web string latched onto his ankle. The ninja let out a gasp as he was pulled back and slammed into the ground. Quickly getting up, the ninja took in his surrounding, finding himself in the middle of the small nearby forest. A sudden pain struck his chest, making him let out a bloodied scream. His insides burned as he gazed at his chest, finding a kunai stabbed into his it, the world around him suddenly fading and turning into an empty street.

'_Genjutsu…' _was his last thought as he fell on the ground.

The remaining Root member landed next to his fellow member, finding him to be dead. The ninja suddenly jumped away, dodging a couple of web strings. He took out a kunai and placed it in front of his chest defensibly.

"A sensor, eh?" Kidomaru grinned as he landed in front of the ninja, "You were able to dodge my webs because you sensed the chakra in them, right?"

The ninja said nothing as he put his hands in the tiger seal. "Kai!" he exclaimed but found no difference. He had felt himself fall under a genjutsu just a moment ago and yet there had been nothing done to him.

"Fool," Kidomaru smirked, "It was only a diversion. We only made you think you were under a genjutsu."

The Root member's eyes widened beneath the mask as a white spike suddenly ripped through his stomach, blood splattering from his body as he choked on blood. Behind him stood Kimimaro with a bloodied bone-sword sticking out of his hand. His expression remained stoic as he retracted the weapon and kicked the ninja away.

"Take care of the bodies and meet in the assigned place," Kimimaro ordered as he left the area.

* * *

Sakura took a stroll through the village, wanting to sort her thoughts. Dinner with Naruto and Ino had been great but it had only served to show what she didn't have. She was thankful to them for trying to help but she couldn't help the feeling of sadness that washed over her.

She wanted what Naruto and Ino had. She wanted for him to be like Naruto. The kunoichi let out a sigh, his name echoing through her head before she let out a gasp and stopped on her tracks.

"Sasuke…" she muttered in disbelief, suddenly running into him with his back to her. The Uchiha stopped mid-step but didn't turn around, she took this as her chance to speak, "What are you doing out so late?"

The Uchiha didn't respond, instead keeping his gaze away from her.

"Sasuke," she said, a little more forcibly, "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving," he deadpanned, not bothering to turn around.

Sakura's eyes widened. "W-what?" she looked at him in pure disbelief, "What do you mean leave? You can't just leave us Sasuke!"

"Leave me alone Sakura," Sasuke growled, his fists clenching, "You're annoying."

Tears fell from Sakura's eyes, the events of the last few days suddenly catching up to her. "W-why?" she sobbed, "Why are you like this Sasuke? Why can't we go back to normal?"

Sasuke finally turned around, his right eye covered by the cloth of his headband, much like Kakashi. "I don't care about anyone here," his eye glaring at the annoying girl, "Just walk away and pretend nothing happened."

"N-no!" Sakura yelled, "If you leave then I'll scream!"

Two ninja suddenly appeared next to Sasuke, both wearing similar outfits. One was a girl with red hair and the other was a teen with white shoulder-length hair. Sakura looked at them oddly before suddenly collapsing on the ground, Jirobo standing behind her with a frown.

"Let's go," Kimimaro ordered as his fellow Sound ninja, plus Sasuke, followed after him.

* * *

It was dark in Naruto's apartment as he slept peacefully, mumbling a few incoherent words. There was a sudden knock on his door, making him let out an irritated sigh. He tried to go back to sleep but the abuse on his door continued.

"Dammit! I'm coming!" Naruto yelled in anger as he stood from his bed and stomped over to the door. He passed a glance at his window and found it to be dark outside. Whoever woke him up would pay dearly for it.

"What?" Naruto exclaimed as soon as he threw open the door. His angry expression turned to one of concern when seeing a panting Ino standing on his doorstep. Before he could ask what was wrong, Ino looked at him in panic.

"We need to see the Hokage!"

**Ch. 39 End**

**That's it for now guys. I know this chapter was a little smaller than usual but, hey, I gave you two chapters in a row. Be grateful! Anyway, like I told you guys earlier, the next chapter will come out in one week, as usual. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	40. Team Naruto! Get Sasuke Back!

**This is the next chapter. I would like to thank those of you who reviewed or added this story to their alerts and favorites. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 40 Team Naruto! Get Sasuke Back!**

Naruto and Ino entered the Hokage's office, the Chunin wearing a look of confusion when seeing Tsunade sitting behind the desk with the Third standing next to her. The elder had his hands behind his back and a pipe on his mouth, seemingly relaxed. For a moment he thought that whatever they were going to tell him wasn't too serious but, throwing a quick glance at his girlfriend's urgent look, he knew that it wasn't the case.

Seeing the confusion on the young ninja's face, Tsunade cleared her throat. "I'm glad you came Naruto," she began, her gaze firm, "I don't have time for formalities but I need you for an urgent mission."

"What's going on?" he couldn't help but ask with a bit of worry.

"A few hours ago, Sasuke Uchiha left the Leaf Village," the medic announced. A look of pure shock passed through the Chunin's face, "Your mission is to get him back as soon as possible. I will let you form your own team of available ninja, however, since a large number of Jonin are out on missions we can't afford to send one at this time. Know that one will be on the way as soon as possible."

Ino watched as her boyfriend's face turned cold and calculating, the kind of face he would make when on a mission. It amazed her just how fast he could adapt to such situations but assumed that it came with the training he had gone through. Considering her own training, spending time with a sannin changed a person.

"We'll be leaving now," Naruto declared, turning to Ino and giving her a firm nod.

"Before you go…" the Third spoke up for the first time. The young couple gave the man their attention, "Know that I trust you'll accomplish your mission Naruto. Be very careful, Sasuke is not alone."

Naruto nodded as he and Ino left the room, running through the hallways of the building as fast as possible.

Tsunade turned to her old teacher with a frown on her face, "Do you think it was a good idea to send him?"

The Third let out a sigh as he turned his gaze to the window overlooking the village. "We can't spare any Jonin at this time but I believe that Naruto is capable of accomplishing this mission," he admitted, turning to his student one more time, "He'll be alright."

* * *

Naruto ran over options as he and Ino made their way through the village. This was a retrieval mission, which meant that they couldn't waste much time. Sasuke was getting further and further away with each minute that passed. He kept a scowl on his face as he thought of candidates for the job.

Ino was a given, even if he didn't want her to go he knew that she would end up going regardless. Not that it was a bad thing since she was a lot stronger than before. She had not only received training from Kurenai, a genjutsu master, but the legendary Tsunade. On top of that she already knew his strengths and weaknesses, which would make the mission a lot easier.

He next thought of Choji. The ninja was currently in the village and was, in his own opinion, the strongest when it came to raw strength. He was also one of the ninja he was familiar with and one of the few whom he trusted Ino with, just in case he got hurt and couldn't protect her.

Neji would also be a good choice. The two had worked and fought together before and he knew for a fact that his taijutsu was the best out of all of them. His byakuugan would also prove useful when pursuing the Uchiha.

Naruto also thought of getting Shino to come along. He was great at long-range fighting and was one of the most intelligent ninja from their year. Having him with them would make thinking of plans a lot easier and his ability to absorb chakra would help in restraining Sasuke.

Lastly, he knew that Lee was a must on this mission. Not only did he carry a lot of strength, but he was also very quick and agile. Having Lee and Choji on the same team would help just in case anyone intervened on their pursuit.

Naruto nodded to himself as he turned to Ino, the two now standing on the roof of an old building. "Ino," he began, his tone serious, "I want you to find Choji and Lee. Once you've done that go to the gate, I'll be waiting there with the rest of the team."

"Got it," Ino replied, watching as Naruto kicked off the roof and ran off in another direction. Not wasting any more time, the kunoichi made her way to Choji's home as fast as possible, knowing full well that time was not on their side.

* * *

It was daybreak as Naruto and his team stood on the village's gate. Finding all of the Genin had been a little harder than he thought, the Hyuuga compound was like a maze, how was he supposed to know where their training grounds were?

The blond shook off those thoughts, he needed to be serious now. He glanced at his team, Ino, Choji, Neji, Shino and Lee standing before him with determined expressions. They had had a quick briefing of what was going on. Neji and Shino didn't seem to care about the Uchiha being gone while Choji and Lee showed a bit of worry.

"Alright guys," Naruto began with an air of seriousness, "This is how it'll go. We'll be forming in a simple line. Neji, you'll be in front. Choji and Lee will be on the back while Ino and I take the center. This way, Neji will be able to tell if there's danger ahead while Lee and Choji take care of any upcoming enemies. I'll have a few clones trail behind us to cover our backside, any questions?"

The group of young shinobi shook their heads. Lee's eyes burning with determination as he threw a fist in the air, "Let's get Sasuke back at once!"

Naruto smirked, "Then let's get goin-"

"Naruto!" a sudden yell interrupted. The group turned to see a distressed Sakura running towards them.

"Sakura?" Ino let out in disbelief, "What are you going here?"

The pink-haired kunoichi stopped in front of Naruto, her frame trembling. "Naruto…" she began, tears threatening to fall, "P-please, get Sasuke back."

Ino watched Sakura with a frown on her face, just what was she thinking? Of course he would get him back, it was his job.

"Please Naruto," she continued, tears sliding down her cheeks, "Promise that you'll get him back."

Naruto let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I can't promise anything Sakura," he deadpanned, Sakura's eyes widening in disbelief. "Me and Sasuke aren't on the best terms right now," he turned on his heel, his gaze on the road ahead, "But know that my mission is to bring Sasuke back and I intend to do so." He turned to his teammate and threw her a smile, "Don't worry about it. The bastard will be back here in no time."

With that the group of ninja ran out of the village, leaving behind a sobbing Sakura. Like always, she needed to trust in others, she was tired of it. Kakashi had yet to find anyone to train her, she felt useless. For now she could only hope that Naruto could bring Sasuke back.

* * *

The Sound Four, plus Kimimaro, leapt through trees, Jirobo carrying a kind of barrel with many seals. Sunlight peeked through the trees as they made their way back to Orochimaru. One of the members suddenly stopped, his head perking up slightly.

"Someone triggered our seal," Kidomaru suddenly informed, a smirk on his face. The mission had gone without a hitch so far, they hadn't run into many enemies but he had been looking forward to a good fight. The ninja they had killed on their way out of the village didn't count since he had been aided by his team, meaning that he didn't get to enjoy their deaths. This time though, he would make sure to enjoy the fight.

Kimimaro kept a calm look on his face as he turned to Jirobo. "Give me Lord Orochimaru's new body," he instructed his underling. Jirobo did as instructed, not wanting to get on his bad side. "You'll stay behind to stall for time. If any of them get past you, I will kill you," Kimimaro turned to the rest, "Let's go." With that he left the area, the rest of the team following after him.

* * *

Neji frowned as he picked a chakra signature straight ahead. He stopped on his tracks, the team behind him doing the same.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"There's someone up ahead," the Hyuuga stated, narrowing his gaze on the chakra signature, "It's just standing there, unmoving. It's as if their expecting us."

Naruto nodded absently, already formulating a plan on his head. It was obvious that they would stall for time, something that they couldn't let happen. They would need to leave someone behind to fight, as much as he hated it, he knew it was the only way.

"Alright," the blond muttered, looking at Ino, Choji, Lee and Shino, "One of us needs to stay behind to fight. I'm team leader and Neji's still needed so it's going to be one of you guys."

"I'll do it," Choji spoke up, a tone of finality on his voice. He smiled and embarrassed smile as he looked at his team leader, "I'm not that good in tracking so it's the least I could do."

"Thanks Choji," Naruto smiled as he turned back to Neji, "Let's get going."

The five Leaf ninja jumped into the clearing ahead, coming face to face with a smirking Jirobo. Naruto instantly remembered the ninja from the invasion, the Sound ninja had been nearly impossible to hurt back then.

"None of you trash is getting past here," Jirobo spat as he bent his knees slightly, ready to attack at any moment.

Choji stepped up with a serious expression on his face. "Get going guys," he muttered to his team, "I'll take care of him."

"Be careful Choji," Ino said in worry. Her teammate nodded with a determined look on his face, apparently ready for anything.

"Let's get going guys. We don't have any time to lose," Naruto spoke as he moved past Jirobo, his team instantly following behind him.

Jirobo snarled as he jumped in front of Naruto. "You're not going anywhere!" he roared before feeling something wrap around his leg. Before he could see what it was, he was slammed on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Choji retracted his giant hand from the Sound ninja, his team now safely away from him. He watched as the ninja stood up, giving him a heated glare. The Genin braced himself for what was to come, he wouldn't let his team down.

* * *

It had been a few minutes since they left Choji behind. Neji led the team through the dense forest, only this time they were moving much faster. The Hyuuga frowned as he slowed his pace until he was running next to Naruto.

"There's another one up ahead," Neji informed as they continued to move through the trees.

Naruto scowled, they couldn't waste any more time with them. "Shino," he called, getting the attention of the bug user, "This time you'll stay behind. Make sure to cover our backs since we're not stopping."

"I understand," Shino calmly replied. It was time to test the results of the training he had undergone.

Ino kept quiet as they grew closer to the clearing, throwing a quick glance at her boyfriend. His fists were clenched, as was his jaw. He was obviously upset with leaving his teammates behind to fend for themselves. Watching his troubled face she arrived at one conclusion, Sasuke would really regret trying to leave the village.

"Be careful Shino," Naruto let out as the team jumped into the clearing ahead.

This time a Sound ninja with six arms stood before them, an amused smirk on his face. Bugs instantly shot out of Shino's sleeves, heading straight for the six-armed ninja. Kidomaru quickly jumped away and shot a web at Shino who easily sidestepped the attack.

The Sound ninja snarled, taking note that the rest of the Leaf team was gone. They had used the bug-user to distract him while they ran away. "Very cowardly of your teammates to leave you behind," he growled.

Shino kept to himself, gathering bugs around his sleeves.

"You're not a talker I see…" Kidomaru muttered with a smirk. "Not to worry though," he declared as he set his eyes on his, soon-to-be, victim, "I'll still enjoy killing you."

* * *

Kimimaro and Tayuya kept a steady pace as they made their way through the dense forest. The Sound Four leader, Kimimaro, was now carrying the barrel in which they had put Sasuke. The Uchiha was undergoing a procedure they had all gone through in order to gain the Curse Seal level two. Chances of living were slim but he was sure that the Uchiha would pull though, Orochimaru had chosen him as his new vessel after all.

The Sound Four leader turned to Tayuya, earning an odd look from the Sound kunoichi. "Stay behind like the others," he ordered in a calm voice. Since they were being followed by Leaf shinobi, it was best to stall for time since the Leaf ninja hand't slowed their pace. Going through the procedure had taken its time and carrying the Uchiha slowed their usual pace which meant that the Leaf team would catch up in just a few moments.

Tayuya scowled but obliged regardless. Kimimaro had a tendency of killing those that didn't follow orders and, as much as she hated to admit it, he could kill her easily.

* * *

"There's another one up ahead," Neji informed the group of ninja behind him.

"Alright then!" Lee exclaimed with a smile. The green-clad ninja moved past his comrades, "I'll take care of this next one. If I can't then I'll do a thousand push-ups and sit-ups!"

Naruto nodded at the Genin, "We're counting on you Lee."

"Kick their asses," Ino smirked.

The group of ninja soon found themselves facing another Sound ninja. This one had short spiky orange hair, he wore an outfit similar to the others but the thing that set him apart from the others was the expression on his face. His face showed hesitation, as if he didn't want to fight.

"I shall be your opponent," Lee announced as he got into his taijutsu stance.

Naruto nodded at his group, turning to Lee once more, "Be careful."

Lee watched his team take off. He had expected the Sound ninja to intercept them but, much to his shock, he didn't move. The green-clad ninja smiled in excitement, "How very youthful of you to let them go. This is a battle between you and me! Let's see which one of us is stronger!"

With that, Lee ran at the Sound ninja with his right fist held back, the Sound ninja narrowing his eyes in concentration.

* * *

Naruto kept a frown on his face as he followed after Neji, Ino by his side and a few clones watching their backs. The blond didn't feel right, just leaving his friends to fend for themselves, but he couldn't do anything about it. Not only were they determined to stay behind, but the mission depended on each second that passed.

'_I'll just have to kick Sasuke's ass back to the village faster than I thought,' _he concluded, suddenly skidding to a stop when Neji stopped moving. His fists clenched, already knowing what was happening.

"There's someone up ahead," Neji let out through gritted teeth as he focused on the area ahead.

The Chunin gritted his teeth, Neji was still needed but leaving Ino behind was the last thing he wanted. She might be a capable kunoichi but he still worried about her, "Who's going to stay behind?"

Ino turned to her two comrades, Naruto having an inner war with himself while Neji was focused on the area ahead.

"Wait," Neji spoke up, a little louder than usual, "I think I see Sasuke." The blond couple looked at Neji in astonishment, had he really found him?

"It's definitely him," the Hyuuga nodded to himself, turning to Naruto with a serious expression on his face, "I'll stay behind to fight the person ahead."

Ino frowned, a scowl on her face, "You can't. You're still needed to chase after Sasuke."

Neji shook his head, "By the looks of things, someone is carrying Sasuke. Their speed is not too great. If you two just head straight, I'm sure you'll catch up to them quickly."

"Alright then," Naruto nodded, turning to Ino, "Let's get going."

The three continued on their way, running into the final Sound Four member. Tayuya stood on a large branch from a tall tree. She glared at the three ninja that had just arrived, it was thanks to them that she had been forced to stay behind.

"You're not getting past here," she declared as she took out a flute.

"Naruto…" Neji whispered, dropping into his taijutsu stance. The blond turned his attention to the Hyuuga, wondering what it was that he wanted. "I need you to knock her off that branch with one of your wind jutsu," he kept his gaze on the Sound ninja, "That way she won't be able to stop you two from chasing after Sasuke."

"No problem," Naruto muttered with a smirk, running through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" a powerful gust of wind shot out of his mouth, heading straight for the Sound ninja.

Tayuya growled as she jumped away from the attack, eyes widening when seeing the Hyuuga standing directly in front of her. He threw an open palm at her shoulder. She leaned her body to the left, effectively dodging the blow. The Sound ninja followed with a knee to the Hyuuga's stomach. Neji raised his own knee, blocking the attack without much trouble.

Neji jumped away from the Sound ninja, landing safely on a tree branch. He watched as Tayuya landed in front of him, shooting him a heated glare.

"Thanks to you the shitheads left," Tayuya spat, "Don't think that I'll let you out of this alive."

Neji took his usual taijutsu style, byakuugan activating, "Don't underestimate me."

* * *

Naruto and Ino sped through the woods. The two could see a fair amount of light growing closer and closer, meaning that they would be out of the woods in just a few moments. The kunoichi wondered just how far they had gone but didn't think much of it. They had been running at their full speed for around an hour, it was obvious that they would catch up to the Sound ninja easily.

The two ninja jumped out of the woods, arriving on a grassy plain where a white-haired ninja stood. Both Leaf ninja looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to be waiting for them with such a calmed look on his face, a look that showed the ninja's trust in his abilities.

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto growled, his eyes inspecting the barrel the Sound ninja kept at his side.

Kimimaro kept a stoic expression, not really threatened by the ninja. "He's going through preparation," he calmly stated, pointing at the barrel next to him, "This is where he'll evolve into a body fit for Lord Orochimaru."

Naruto gritted his teeth, not liking the expression on the Sound ninja's face. It somewhat reminded him of Orochimaru's usual smirk. It wasn't a smug look or anything of that kind. The calm expression on the Sound ninja's face told him all he needed to know about him. He was not on the same level as his allies.

Ino watched her boyfriend analyzing the enemy, wondering why he seemed so shaken. She looked at the Sound ninja oddly. He was different than the others, that much was obvious, but was it really a reason to be so wary around him?

"Listen up," Naruto muttered with his eyes closed, fists clenching. He snapped his eyes open, showing his blue eyes burning in determination, "I'm taking Sasuke back to Konoha. I don't care if I have to literally go through you. I will take him back."

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes. "It doesn't matter how determined you are," he deadpanned as a bone struck out of his hand. He gripped the sharp bone tightly, "If you attempt anything against Lord Orochimaru's plans, then I'll kill you."

Ino and Naruto slipped into their taijutsu stances, the latter throwing a look at his girlfriend. "Be careful with this one," he warned in a harsh whisper, "He's on a whole other level."

Ino's eyes widened, looking at Naruto with a look of disbelief. Was he really _that_ strong, he sure didn't look it. But, looking at her boyfriend, she knew that he was completely serious. The scowl that refused to leave his face was proof enough of that. She turned to the enemy ninja, if he really was on another level then it meant that she couldn't take her eyes off of him for a single second. Still, one question remained.

'_Is he stronger than Naruto?' _It would be a two on one fight, they had the clear advantage. But the shaken expression on her boyfriend's face told her otherwise. The way she saw it, there were two answers. One, the Sound ninja was way out of their league. Or maybe Naruto was just looking out for her, like usual.

She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts. If he was really worried about her then she would show him that he didn't need to. She hadn't been training with Tsunade for nothing.

The air was tense as Naruto and Ino stared down Kimimaro. The Sound ninja kept his eyes on the two Leaf ninja, deciding to let them attack first. That way he would get a quick look into what was in store.

Naruto suddenly flashed through hand signs, the speed taking Ino by surprise. "Wind Style!" he began, taking a deep breath, "Devastation!"

Wind shot out of the Chunin's mouth, taking grass and dirt with it. Kimimaro remained motionless as the attack neared him, watching the powerful gust of wind with a calculating expression. If this was what they had to offer, then he was not impressed.

**Ch. 40 End**

**That's it for this one guys. I know this chapter seemed a bit rushed but I didn't want to have several chapters on the chase alone. Anyway, the next chapter will come out as usual. Also, don't worry about the other fights, I don't plan to skip them. What I did on this chapter was set them up so I can focus on each fight better.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	41. Stand Tall Choji!

**Here's the next one guys. Thanks to those who reviewed and added this story to their alerts and favorites. I got a few reviews asking to skip the other fights but I can't since the match-ups are different from canon, which means that somethings might change.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 41 Stand Tall Choji!**

"You'll pay for letting them get away," Jirobo glared at the Leaf ninja.

Choji's stance stiffened, his legs bent slightly in case he needed to move away from the area. The Sound ninja made no sings of moving, instead, he continued to glare at him with a frown on his face.

"I should have guessed that Konoha shinobi would leave their comrades behind," Jirobo growled as he ran through hand signs. "But it doesn't matter. All I have to do is kill you and then go after your 'comrades!'" the Sound ninja slammed his hand on the ground. The ground began to shake before suddenly erupting, creating a large dust cloud that shielded the Sound ninja from view.

The sound of footsteps was the only warning Choji had as Jirobo suddenly emerged from the dust cloud, charging at him with his right fist held back. Choji, trusting his own strength, tried to catch the fist but was overwhelmed by the cheer power behind it. The Genin let out a gasp of pain, unknowingly dropping his guard. Jirobo smirked as he struck Choji on the stomach with his knee.

The Leaf ninja choked back a cry before being knocked away by a hard punch to his face. Choji sailed through the air before painfully crashing on the ground. He grit his teeth in pain as he managed to stand back up, his left hand aching from his attempt to stop Jirobo's fist.

"What's wrong fatass?" Jirobo taunted with a smirk, noticing the slight clench on the Leaf ninja's fists, "Now that those trash shinobi abandoned you, nobody can help you. I'll make sure to enjoy your chakra once you're taken down."

Choji glared at the Sound ninja, "Don't you ever… talk about my friends like that!" The Genin began to spin in place, kicking up clouds of dust as he grew in size, "Human Boulder!"

Choji rolled towards Jirobo, the ground beneath the two of them shaking. The Sound ninja planted his feet on the ground, smirking at the attempt of an attack. He let out a grunt as his hands slammed against the rolling ninja, stopping him dead on his tracks.

"Pathetic," the Sound ninja smirked as he brought his foot back. "You call this an attack?" he brought his foot forward in a powerful kick that sent the young Genin hurling through the air. Choji's size returned to normal as he crashed against the ground, a gasp of pain leaving his mouth.

'_I have to use it,' _Choji gritted his teeth in pain as he managed to sit up. There was no way that he could go against someone like Jirobo without using his secret weapon. He reached into his jacket's pocket and took out a glass case containing three different colored pills.

Jirobo watched as the Genin stood up and, not wanting to give him a chance to move, he charged at him almost immediately. He raised his right fist, prepared to deliver another blow since he couldn't be stopped once he began moving.

As the Sound ninja grew closer to Choji, the latter began to move towards his enemy. Jirobo almost smirked before his eyes widened in shock, a tremendous amount of pain shooting through his stomach. Lowering his head he saw Choji's fist implanted to his gut, _'H-how?'_

Choji took hold his enemy's arm, easily slinging him over his shoulder and hurling him through the air. "Human Boulder!" he exclaimed once more as he regained the shape of a large spinning boulder. Not giving Jirobo a chance to land, he shot at him, the ground beneath him breaking apart.

While on the air, Jirobo managed to see the incoming attack. He ran through hand signs as he twisted in the air. As soon as his feet touched the ground he slapped his hands on it, a wall of earth raising from the ground and covering him from view.

Choji slammed against the wall of earth, immediately coming to a stop. He dropped his jutsu just as the wall came down. Jirobo was in front of him immediately, throwing another punch. Choji raised his right hand quickly, catching the incoming punch without much trouble. Using his other hand he threw a punch at the enemy ninja, managing to hit him on the chest.

Jirobo let out a grunt on pain before glaring and elbowing the Akimichi in the face. Choji staggered backwards before receiving a hard open-palm to his chest. The Genin jumped away from his enemy, wanting to put a bit of a distance between them.

'_I can't believe I have to use this while fighting him,' _Jirobo frowned as black marks spread through his face, familiar strength going through his system. He charged at the Leaf ninja once more, only this time with his Lord's power surging through him.

Choji gritted his teeth as he ran at the Sound ninja, noticing the slight boost on speed. He threw a punch as soon as he was close enough. Jirobo smirked as he raised his knee to block the blow before throwing a punch at the Akimichi's face. Choji's face snapped to the side as he fell on the ground, not knowing where the sudden boost in power had come from. He tried to stand but was stopped by a foot slamming on his chest.

The Leaf ninja let out a cry of pain as Jirobo put pressure on his chest. "Did you think I'd let you get away with hurting me?" Jirobo growled as he raised his foot before bringing it down on Choji's chest once more. He smirked in amusement at the pain written all over the Genin's face, "I'm going to enjoy this."

"Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Choji exclaimed as his right arm grew in size and struck at Jirobo's torso. The Sound ninja let out a cry of pain as he was hurled away from the Leaf ninja. Jirobo managed to land on the ground without much trouble, watching as his opponent rose to his feet.

The young Genin panted as he brought a hand to his jacket once more, this time taking out a yellow pill. _'I can't let them down,' _he told himself as he swallowed the pill. Almost immediately he felt his strength return. The wounds on his body didn't bother him any more. He could feel the power surging through his body, he could do this.

Jirobo kept his distance, he had seen the Leaf ninja consume one of those pills earlier and gain strength out of nowhere. This time he knew better, he would keep out of his reach in order to study him. He didn't want to be caught by surprise again.

Choji ran at the Sound ninja, noticing that he had yet to move. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" he threw a punch just as his arm extended, making contact with a shocked Jirobo.

The Sound ninja sailed through the air, eyes widening in shock as an enlarged foot came down on him. He was crushed against the ground, letting out a cry of pain, his eyes burning in rage. More black marks stretched around his face as the feet retracted back to its owner.

"So far so good…" Choji muttered to himself, watching as Jirobo began to stand. Even from this distance he could see that he had done a number on him. The Sound ninja's clothes were stained with a bit of blood and covered in dirt and pebbles.

"I won't let you live, you damned piece of trash!" Jirobo exclaimed in rage. Purple chakra swirled around him as he prepated for his next attack, "The real fight starts now."

* * *

Orochimaru sat on his throne-like chair with an amused smile on his face. A kneeling messenger brought news of Sasuke's defection. Everything was going according to plan, in only a few hours the young Uchiha would be his. It was too bad that he had to wait before taking over another body, but patience was something he didn't lack. After all, he had waited for this single chance for years now.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto made his presence known as he entered the room with a chart on hand, "Forgive my disturbance."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Not to worry Kabuto," he eased his underling, "I am in a very _good _mood right now."

"I came here because the last of the messengers has arrived," he informed in a serious tone, "Are you sure that calling them back here was a good idea?"

"Oh?" Orochimaru smirked, "Are you questioning my orders?"

Kabuto flinched, bowing his head quickly, "That wasn't my intention."

"Not to worry," the snake summoner assured, "I entrusted the Sound Four with bringing him to me. I am sure that they will get it done, they are useful tools after all."

Kabuto nodded before leaving the room. Orochimaru watched him go, wondering how long it would be until his new body arrived.

* * *

Shino dodged another string of web as he sent more bugs towards his opponent. The Konoha ninja looked around the area, wondering where the Sound ninja had gone. They had ended up fighting in an area filled with trees and since the sun was just rising, it was quite dark due to the shadows that engulfed the area.

So far, his fight had been a long-range one. The Sound ninja had taken to hiding around the woods while he had been force to dodge each attack that came his say. The problem did not lay with the fact that the enemy was hiding somewhere in the area, he was familiar with this woods after all. No, the problem lay with the constant projectiles being sent his way. They seemed to come from all directions and dodging was becoming a little harder as time passed.

"I've had enough of this cat and mouse game," Kidomaru complained as he landed on a branch in front of Shino. The enemy ninja smirked, "Let's get this over with so that I can take care of the other idiots."

Shino frowned as he gathered bugs around his sleeves. The Sound ninja shot a web at the ninja, who easily jumped over the attack and unleashed a cloud of bugs. Kidomaru frowned and trapped the bugs with a large web before a dark brown substance came out of his mouth.

The bug-user was forced to dodge as kunai made of the odd substance were sent his way. Shino moved away from the area, wondering just how he could take this enemy down. He was broken out of his thoughts by another wave of projectiles heading straight for him.

The bug-user managed to replace himself with a log, giving him a bit more thinking time. Shino landed on the ground to see another wave or projectiles heading his way. He quickly ran through hand signs before slamming his hands on the ground.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall," he muttered as the ground in front of him rose, defending him against the incoming projectiles.

Shino nodded to himself before jumping to the nearest tree branch. He had come up with something he hoped would work, though it would be risky. Using the bugs he had placed around the area, he was able to find Kidomaru's location without much trouble. He reached into his kunai pouch and took out two kunai. With a flick of his wrist, the projectiles were hurled through the air.

Kidomaru jumped away from where he had been standing, dodging the incoming weapons without much trouble. He turned to his enemy to see him airborne. Not wasting any time he used his webs to catch the Aburame. He smirked, seeing his webs wrap around the ninja before his bound body fell on a tree branch.

The bug-user cursed under his breath and struggled against the webs. He let out a gasp when Kidomaru appeared in front of him with a smirk on his face.

"Look what I caught," the Sound ninja chuckled. He kicked the Aburame from the tree branch, only for him to get caught in a large web. "I made that while you were running around. I knew it would get you," he jumped to the other end of the web and ran through hand signs, "Now you die, Leaf trash."

The Sound ninja slammed his hands on the web, creating a large cloud of smoke. Shino kept his usual expression as a giant spider was summoned, its eyes glaring at him from the end of the web. The giant arachnid began to move only for the webs to suddenly break. Almost immediately Shino tore the webs keeping him in place and leapt at the Sound ninja. Another cloud of bugs left his sleeves as bugs came out of the trees around the Sound ninja.

Kidomaru let out a surprised gasp just as thousands of bugs came from all sides. The Sound ninja tried to jump away but couldn't stop the bugs from latching onto his body. With a cry of pain, he fell on a tree branch, struggling against the bugs on his body.

"What the fuck is this? How did you break my webs?" Kidomaru screamed as he tried to tear the bugs off, "Where did these bugs come from?"

"Your webs were reinforced with chakra," Shino stated as he dug his hands into his pockets. "When you caught my bugs in them, they simply sucked the chakra out before breaking out. They did the same with the web that caught me," the bug-user turned his gaze to the spider on the ground, "Normal webs could not support the weight of the spider which is why it fell. During my chase I set various bugs around the area for a chance like this. With you thinking that you had beaten me, it was easy for my bugs to attack."

"Y-you bastard!" Kidomaru yelled before being kicked off the tree branch by Shino. The Sound ninja fell on the ground, now completely covered in bugs, letting out muffled cries.

Shino stared at the fallen Sound shinobi before turning his gaze to the spider that had begun to climb up the trees, "Now to take care of that thing."

* * *

Choji took out two strings with several kunai tied to them. He put them over his body as he prepared his next jutsu. The Akimichi began to grow in size as he rolled in place.

"Spiky Human Boulder!" Choji let out as he rolled towards his enemy.

Jirobo ran through hand signs before slamming the ground with a single hand. "Earth Style: Earth Shaking Palm!" the ground in front of him let out with chunks of rocks and pebbles shooting out of it.

Choji was taken aback by the attack, almost going off course, but didn't let up. Instead he pushed through it, heading straight for the Sound ninja with no sign of stopping.

Jirobo gritted his teeth as he jumped away from the Genin, watching as he kept on going and cut a tree in half. Choji slowly turned back to the enemy ninja before shooting towards him once more. Jirobo ran through hand signs and slammed both hands on the ground, a wall of earth rising from the ground to protect him.

The Akimichi crashed against the wall but didn't stop, instead he continued to push. It wasn't long until the wall began to crumble, much to Jirobo's shock, before finally breaking into millions of tiny pieces. Jirobo let out a cry of pain as he was struck by the attack, the many kunai digging into his skin. The Sound ninja tried to push against Choji but was overwhelmed and flattened by the Leaf ninja.

As soon as he felt the Sound ninja go down, Choji dropped his jutsu. "Expansion Jutsu!" his body grew until he towered over the trees. He then threw himself at the Sound ninja, expecting to crush him and end the fight. Instead he felt a pair of hands on his stomach and no impact. His flailed his body as he was pushed up, his eyes wide in shock.

Beneath him an enraged Jirobo lifted the giant Choji. Purple chakra flared around him, his body features covered by darkness. He let out a yell as he threw the Akimichi off of him, breaking several trees in the process.

Choji's body returned to its normal size as he began to stand. _'What happened?' _he wondered as he watched Jirobo's new appearance. His skin was now red with his hair growing into a kind of mane that went down his back, _'He's completely different than before.'_

"To have such a ninja make me go into level two," he growled, "I'll make sure to kill you this time."

Choji simply stood on his usual taijutsu stance. He panted, the pill's effects were wearing off and he was beginning to feel dizzy, "This just got bad."

* * *

Shino watched as his bugs engulfed the giant spider. He reached into his kunai pouch, taking out a kunai with an explosive tag wrapped around it. He recalled his bugs just as he sent the kunai flying, exploding as soon as it made contact with the giant spider screeched before bursting in a cloud of smoke.

"Looks like I'm done here," Shino muttered to himself, turning to leave. "I'll have to be quick and help the others," he began to move before his bugs trembled in alarm. He turned back to where the fallen ninja was to see a purple chakra erupt from the ninja.

'_This is like that other time,' _he cursed, his bugs weren't very helpful when it came to this kind of chakra. They couldn't drain it and would die as soon as they came in contact with it.

Kidomaru chuckled as he rose to his feet, his appearance greatly changed. He now had dark red skin, two horns sticking out of his long white hair and most of his body. A third eye opened on his forehead as he stared at the bug-user.

"We're not done yet," the Sound ninja smirked as more purple chakra swirled around him, "This fight's just begun."

Shino cursed as he slipped into his taijutsu stance. His bugs would be close to useless now, it seemed like he would need to rely on his new abilities. He trusted his abilities but, looking at his opponent, things were far from good.

* * *

Kakashi entered the Leaf village, instantly feeling the weight of his last mission come off his shoulders. He reached into his vest and took out a familiar book, he couldn't wait to get home and do some reading. The last mission had been abrupt and had forced him to drop the book in a classic cliffhanger. He smiled underneath his mask, now he could find out how the hero would get his next 'victim.'

The Jonin let out a perverted giggle as he walked through the streets, some civilians giving him odd looks. A flash of pink caught his eye, ignoring the odd looks from the civilians, he turned to the source to see Sakura sitting on a bench with her gaze on the ground.

A frown formed underneath his mask, his student needed some self-esteem lessons. The lightest insult could get her down from time to time. He slapped his book shut and walked over to his student, now knowing that whoever her knew mentor was needed to be overly confident.

"What are you lazing around here for?" he asked in a light tone.

Sakura's head snapped towards her teacher, her eye brows almost touching her hair. "K-Kakashi-sensei?" she let out in complete shock.

The Jonin chuckled, "Why so surprised Sakura?"

"Sasuke left the village!" Sakura exclaimed in desperation, taking Kakashi by surprise, "Naruto was sent to go after him. They've been gone for a few hours!"

"Wait here!" Kakashi ordered as he sped out of the village. "Dammit," he growled, cursing himself for not predicting this. Sasuke had been acting really strange for the past couple of weeks, he could have made sure to have someone of trust watch over him.

He quickly ran through hand signs, "Summoning Jutsu."

Pakkun appeared next to Kakashi, already running next to him, "What's the problem this time?"

"I want you to find Sasuke's or Naruto's scent," the two were now jumping along the trees that surrounded Konoha.

"No problem," Pakkun assured. He was already familiar with their scent, having spent a lot of time around them during the invasion. He smelled the air and turned to Kakashi, "Their scent is strong, though Sasuke's is a little bit more faint."

"Lead the way," Kakashi muttered as he followed after his summon.

**Ch. 41 End**

**That's it for this one guys. Anyway, classes start today so I might not have a lot of time to write. I promise I'll try to get the next chapter as soon as possible though. **

**Since someone asked to show the stats, I decided to put them on this chapter. They are based on the standard stats found on databooks, so here they are. **

* * *

**Naruto**

_**Ninjutsu **_**3**

_**Taijutsu **_**2.5**

_**Genjutsu **_**1**

_**Intelligence **_**3**

_**Strength **_**2**

_**Speed **_**2.5**

_**Stamina **_**4**

_**Hand Seals **_**3**

_**Total = **_**21**

* * *

**Ino**

_**Ninjutsu **_**2.5**

_**Taijutsu **_**1.5**

_**Genjutsu **_**2**

_**Intelligence **_**2**

_**Strength **_**1**

_**Speed **_**2.5**

_**Stamina **_**2.5**

_**Hand Seals **_**2.5**

_**Total = **_**16.5**

* * *

**Sasuke**

_**Ninjutsu **_**2.5**

_**Taijutsu **_**2**

_**Genjutsu **_**1.5**

_**Intelligence **_**2**

_**Strength **_**2**

_**Speed **_**3**

_**Stamina **_**3**

_**Hand Seals **_**3**

_**Total = **_**19**

* * *

**Remember that this stats don't include sudden power-ups, an example being Sasuke's Curse Mark. Anyway that will be all for now. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	42. Sound's Melody

**Alright guys, I got a lot of reviews talking about the stats and I guess I didn't put any explanation as to why their stats were like that. So, I'll take this time to explain. **

* * *

**Naruto- His intelligence is a lot higher since he learned to keep his emotions in check. This means that he's able to keep a clear head while on missions and such. This, added to his original plan-making abilities made him a lot smarter. Also, the reason his ninjutsu was high is because he knows elemental jutsu and controls it well. The number of jutsu was also a contributing factor in this decision. **

**Sasuke- If you looked at the original stats you can tell that some of his stats went down. His taijutsu for instance. Since he lost an eye, his taijutsu (or course) went down. Also, with the Curse Mark affecting his decisions and making him quick to anger, his intelligence is – at this time – lower than Naruto's. **

**Ino- She didn't increase her abilities much. Only her genjutsu, strength and stamina increased because of her training with Kurenai and Tsunade. The stats don't include her chakra-enhanced strength. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 42 Sound's Melody**

Neji watched as Tayuya put a flute to her mouth. He looked at her oddly before leaping towards her, whatever it was she was preparing, he would stop it. The Sound ninja smirked when she saw the Hyuuga get close. She quickly ran through hand signs before slamming her hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!" she exclaimed as three ogres appeared in front of her.

Neji stopped dead on his tracks, narrowing his eyes at the three ogres that towered over him. It seemed that she was starting big, quite literally, which would be a problem to him. He suddenly heard a soft tune coming from the Sound ninja's flute. He briefly wondered why she had suddenly decided to play her flute before he was forced to jump away, watching as an ogre landed where he had just been.

He caught movement to his right and quickly twisted his body in the air, dodging a punch from one of the ogres. _'Damn,' _he cursed himself for letting them attack first. He landed on a branch just as another ogre leapt at him with a club on hand. The ogre brought the club down on the Hyuuga, who easily sidestepped the attack before striking the ogre on the chest.

The tune the Sound ninja played became more chaotic as the three ogres all jumped at him at the same time. "Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" the Hyuuga began rotating and releasing chakra at the same time. The ogres crashed against the dome before being knocked away. Neji instantly stopped his attack and leapt at the nearest ogre.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" he began his attack on the ogre before it suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. His eyes widened as the other two summons leapt at him once more. One of them took hold of his right leg before hurling him through the air. Neji sailed through the air before crashing against a tree, letting out a grunt of pain. He slowly rose to his fee, his back aching from the impact.

Tayuya smirked as she played her flute, this time playing in a faster tune. Under her command the two ogres charged at the Hyuuga once more. The Leaf ninja jumped away from the two ogres in a poor attempt of losing them. It was amusing to see him try so hard, her ogres were controlled through her music meaning that as long as she could see him the ogres could too. This made any attempt at losing them futile.

Neji gritted his teeth as he continued to dodged the ogres' attacks. _'I have to think of something or I'll be killed,' _he growled before reaching for a couple of kunai. He hurled them at the two summons but they simply bounced of off them, not even leaving a scratch. The Hyuuga heard the tune of the flute change once more just as the two ogres began to charge at him, _'She controls them.'_

Neji jumped over them before reaching for two more kunai. He flung one through the air before landing on a tree branch, he focused his gaze on the area before throwing the other one. Not missing a beat, Neji reached for more kunai, if he wanted to get rid of the ogres it would have to be while they were separated.

The first kunai sailed through the air before being hit on the handle by the other, changing its course of direction. Tayuya's eyes widened before jumping away from the incoming projectile, this proved to be a mistake since a wave of kunai headed straight for her. Cursing under her breath she quickly called one of her nearby ogres to block the attack.

'_Now's my chance!' _Neji ran at the lone ogre and struck it in the heart with a hard palm, instantly making it disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"That wasn't bad," Tayuya smirked from her spot on a tree branch. With her flute on hand and her last remaining ogre next to her she knew that she was still at the advantage. "But it all ends now," black marks spread through her face as she began to play her flute once more,

The remaining ogre opened its mouth, making a gagging noise. Neji watched as an odd plasma-like substance emerged from the ogre's mouth. The odd creature floated in the air with its attention on Neji. It screeched, revealing its sharp set of teeth, before charging at the Hyuuga.

Neji threw a kunai at the creature but it went through it without any sign of hurting it. He cursed before kicking off the branch he had been standing on and running up a tall tree with the creature following close behind. The Hyuuga was at a loss, if a solid object had simply phased through the creature he couldn't hurt normally, he would need a powerful impact to get rid of it.

He reached into his kunai pouch once more, taking out an explosive tag along a kunai. Kicking off the three he quickly wrapped the seal around the kunai's handle and dived towards the ground head-first. He flicked his wrist as soon as the creature was in front of him. The kunai entered the creature's body before lighting up and exploding. Neji was hurled through the air, getting caught in the explosion, before slamming against the ground.

"Damn…" Neji groaned in pain as he rose to his knees. With his byakuugan active he could see Tayuya playing her flute while the remaining ogre was heading his way. This wouldn't be too much of a problem though he had been slammed on the ground countless of times.

He slipped into his taijutsu stance, he still had a lot of charka left. He could do this.

* * *

Shizune entered the Hokage's office with a nervous expression on her face. She could tell that the Hokage was not in the best of moods. She was probably worried about Naruto going after Sasuke with only a few Genin. Disturbing her now would be a bad idea. But, nevertheless, the Hokage needed to hear the latest news.

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune called, getting a look from Tsunade, "There's a bit of a problem."

Tsunade frowned, just what she needed at the moment, "What happened now?"

"The Sand representative is gone," the young medic informed, instantly getting a surprised look from the Hokage, "There's a few ninja looking around the village but he's nowhere to be found."

Tsunade nodded absently. She had a good idea of where he had gone. From what she had heard from Kakashi, he had a kind of friendship with Naruto. It had been the reason she had asked for him to come to the Leaf. It was obvious that if he had found out that Naruto had gone out on a retrieval mission he would tag along.

"Don't worry much about it Shizune," Tsunade waved her off, "Gaara was sure to follow after Naruto. In fact, I'm kind of glad he did."

Shizune nodded before laughing nervously, "Then, Kiba breaking out of the hospital and leaving the village should be good news, right?"

"What?" Tsunade growled in annoyance.

* * *

Lee kept his exited grin as he stood in front of the Sound ninja, it wasn't every day that he could test out his skills and make Gai-sensei proud. "Alright then, I'll start things off!" the Genin instantly charged at the unnamed enemy ninja.

The Sound ninja's eyes widened slightly before jumping out of the ninja's way. Lee stopped on his tracks before turning to the enemy and charging once more, this time at a faster speed. The Sound ninja jumped over Lee once more before suddenly doubling over in pain.

Gritting his teeth he looked down to see Lee's fist on his stomach. The Genin proceeded to pull down the enemy ninja before spinning in the air and delivering a hard kick to his back. The Sound ninja let out a grunt of pain as he crashed on the ground, kicking up dirt.

Lee frowned once he landed on the ground. For some reason the Sound ninja wasn't fighting back, as if he was trying to avoid fighting. The Sound ninja rose to his feet once more and simply looked at him with calm orange eyes.

"I don't want to fight…" the ninja muttered, getting a surprised look from Lee.

The Genin suppressed a disappointed sigh before reaching into his kunai pouch. It was no use fighting with someone like him since it wouldn't be honorable to attack someone who wouldn't fight back. Lee took out a pair of smoke bombs and threw them on the ground, the black smoke instantly shielding him from view.

The Sound ninja watched as the smoke dispersed with no sings of the Leaf ninja. It was apparent that he had simply left after their little exchange of words.

"I don't want to fight… but," the Sound ninja could still clearly see his friend's face when he explained the mission. Kimimaro didn't want any errors on the mission and he didn't want to let him down, "But, I have to stop him."

The ninja nodded to himself before giving chase, following the light sounds of retreating footsteps and the occasional foot imprint on tree branches.

* * *

Jirobo charged at Choji with rage-filled eyes. The Akimichi was taken aback by the speed and was struck in the stomach. He coughed up blood as the fist dug into him before receiving another hard blow to his face. Choji fell on the ground before quickly getting to his feet and jumping away from his opponent.

His eyes widened when he found no sign of Jirobo before feeling something hard impact his head. He cried in pain as he was thrown towards the ground. Choji managed to spin his body and land on his feet. He quickly moved towards one of the nearby trees, not wanting to be caught in surprise by the Sound ninja.

"Not good enough Leaf trash," he heard Jirobo's voice behind him.

Much to Choji's shock, Jirobo was standing behind him with a smug expression on his face. The Sound ninja grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before slamming him against a tree. Choji struggled against the hold, feeling his remaining chakra disappear.

Jirobo smirked as blue chakra trailed up his arm, "It was a good thing you were here. I was getting a little hungry." His eyes narrowed when the steady flow of chakra stopped all-together. He threw the Leaf ninja away with a snarl, "That was it! I'm still hungry!"

Choji's eyelids grew heavy as he fought to stay conscious. Things were looking dire at the moment and, unless he did something drastic, he would end up dying. He dug into his pocket and took out the last pill, looking at it in deep thought, _'If I eat this, I'll die but… at least I would take him down with me.'_

Jirobo neared the fallen ninja. "I'll just kill you and take the chakra of the ninja that deserted you. They're nothing but cowards," he raised his right arm before bringing it down on the helpless ninja. The ground trembled from the mighty punch but only that, there was no sign of the Leaf ninja that should be dead at the moment. Seeing a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye, Jirobo turned around to see Choji standing there with his back to him, "How did you dodge that?"

Choji said nothing as he turned to see his opponent eye-to-eye. His face was sharper and his clothes seemed to be too big for him. "They didn't desert me. I chose to stay here," he glared, balling his hands into fists. Chakra flared around him, settling on his back and taking the shape of butterfly wings, "I won't forgive you for talking like that about my friends!"

He phased form view before reappearing in front of Jirobo. His fist met his stomach in a devastating blow that made him double over in pain. The Sound ninja gagged as he staggered backwards with a few tears rolling down his face due to the strain on his throat. Choji followed with a kick to the Sound ninja's chin, sending him flying through the air.

'_This is impossible! How can he be this strong?' _Jirobo tried to spin in the air but froze when seeing a shadow above him.

The Akimichi twirled in the air before delivering a powerful kick to the back of Jirobo's neck. With a loud snapping sound the Sound ninja's body went limp as he fell through the air. His lifeless body crashed on the ground with his Curse Seal disappearing.

Choji landed on the ground with wobbling legs. He let out a hiss of pain as he fell to his knees with sweat rolling down his face. the effects of the pills already taking effect no doubt.

"I did it…" he muttered to himself with a small smile. His eyes began to close as he laid down on the ground, "… I did it."

* * *

Lee made his way through the forest at a steady pace. It had been only a few moments ago that he left the odd Sound ninja. Part of him wished to have fought him but he knew that his friends came first and, judging from the faraway explosions, he knew that they really needed him.

He continued to make his way through the woods before hearing a branch snap. Lee turned his head to see the Sound ninja from before chasing after him. He scowled in confusion as the ninja landed in front of him with an odd look on his face.

"I came here to stop you," the Sound ninja stated.

Lee couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement as he slipped into his taijutsu stance. "Let's go then," he instantly leapt towards the ninja. His hair swayed with the wind as he brought his right fist back in preparation. The Sound ninja seemed to freeze up before receiving a punch to his stomach.

The Sound ninja doubled over in pain just as Lee spun in place to deliver a kick to his ribs. Lee followed up with a series of kicks. The Sound ninja could only moan in pain from Lee's restless attack. Lee ended his assault with a final kick to the ninja's chest. The Sound ninja crashed against a tree before quickly getting back on his feet. There was a bit of blood on the side of his mouth but otherwise, he was fine.

"I do not wish to fight if you continue to just stand there," Lee frowned. He could see the hesitation in the Sound ninja and didn't understand why he was pushing himself so hard. They were from Sound, a place controlled by Orochimaru, why would they show such loyalty to it?

The Sound ninja clenched his fists. He couldn't let Kimimaro down. He was the only person he had, his only friend. Now that he depended on him for this mission, he couldn't let him down.

Lee's eyes widened in shock. Purple chakra flared around the Sound ninja, his orange eyes glaring at him in pure rage. The green-clad ninja took an involuntary step back just as the ninja shot off the tree. The Sound ninja raised his right fist, ready to strike the enemy as soon as possible.

Years of training with taijutsu told Lee to duck just as the fist zoomed past him. The green-clad ninja raised his head before pushing against the ground and delivering an elbow to the Sound ninja's stomach. The enemy ninja merely grunted before raising his right knee and meeting Lee's stomach in a hard blow.

Lee gritted his teeth before jumping away from the ninja, wanting to put a bit of distance between them. His stomach ached in pain but he ignored it as he charged at the enemy once more. Once close enough he threw a punch that was easily knocked aside by the Sound ninja's right hand. Using the momentum Lee twisted his body to the right as he brought his left arm forward, delivering a hard punch to the ninja's face.

The Sound ninja glared as he sailed through the air before landing on a tree without much trouble. He watched as the Leaf ninja leapt at him once more. He took in a deep breath before jumping towards the Leaf ninja, he hoped that getting serious wouldn't cost him his sanity.

Lee neared the Sound ninja, his eyes widening when the Sound ninja's right arm suddenly turned dark and grew in shape. With a sudden flash of blue, the Sound ninja's fist dug into Lee's stomach. The green-clad ninja let out a choked scream as the Sound ninja brought his arm back before delivering another powerful punch to his chest.

'_What was that?' _Lee flipped in the air and managed to land on a tree branch safely. He looked at his opponent in wonder. His right arm was going back to normal which meant that he had just used some kind of jutsu. Whatever it was, he would make sure to win, _'Then I'll get serious too!'_

Lee took off the weights on his legs, holding them on his hands while keeping his eyes on the Sound ninja. He ran at the enemy at a much faster pace, before swinging one of the weights at him. The wight stuck the ninja on the side. The enemy winced in pain before Lee swung the other weight.

Now knowing just how heavy the weights were, the Sound ninja took a quick step back, effectively dodging the heavy object. His arm changed once more as he threw another enhanced punch.

Lee dropped both weights on the branch, instantly breaking it from the impact. The Sound ninja's punch lost its trajectory, giving him the chance he needed.

"Leaf Hurricane!" he exclaimed as he kicked the Sound ninja in the face. He followed with a kick to the stomach that was immediately followed by another kick to the ninja's face. Lee continued his assault before kicking him away and dropping on one of the branches in his taijutsu style, an exited glint on his eyes.

The Sound ninja landed on the ground without much trouble. He turned his attention to the Leaf shinobi, wondering just how much faster he had gotten. It was almost impossible to keep up with him. The left side of his face turned darker as he came to the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to beat the ninja without getting serious.

* * *

Kakashi and Pakkun sped through the woods. So far they hadn't run into anybody but, according to the ninja hound, there were several battles going on. Since they were Sound ninja, obviously trained by the likes of Orochimaru, Kakashi knew that they would be in trouble. He didn't exactly know just who had gone on the mission but he hoped that they would be able to hold on.

"There's somebody up ahead," Pakkun broke the silence with a sharp voice, "We better hurry. I smell a lot of blood."

The two continued to speed through the woods before arriving on a large clearing. It was easy to see that a battle had taken place due to the broken ground and many broken trees. Kakashi's visible eye widened when he noticed the Genin unconscious on the ground. He was at his side in a second, recognizing the young Genin almost instantly.

'_This is bad,' _he looked over the condition of Choji. His body was way too thin for an Akimichi, he could almost see the bones underneath his skin. _'Most of his body fat is gone. This could only mean that he used all of the pills,' _he had met his fair amount of Akimichi on his days and had seen what those pills could do. They turned body fat into chakra. An incredibly dangerous thing to do. In fact, some had even died from using all three.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he muttered as a clone appeared at his side. "Go back to the Leaf and take him to a hospital," the clone nodded before picking up the young Genin and taking off. "This is bad…" he muttered to himself, if Choji had been pushed this far then what was of the rest of them, "Let's keep going Pakkun."

The ninja hound nodded as the two broke into a run. Kakashi followed after him with a worried gaze, he hoped that the rest of the team could hold on long enough for him to arrive.

* * *

A single eye made of Sand could be seen in the sky. From the trees, Gaara scanned the whole area. His arms were crossed with his usual gourd on his back.

He had been able to hear of Naruto's pursuit of the Uchiha due to the pink-haired kunoichi. It was by pure coincidence that he happened to walk by the village when he heard her conversation with a scarred Chunin.

His decision had been almost instant. He would offer any kind of help to Uzumaki, it was the least he could do for him. The blond jinchuuriki had helped him begin to turn his life around after all.

Gaara kicked off the tree, having found what he was looking for, two blondes standing in front of a white-haired ninja. His expression remained unchanged as he sped through the trees, he would make sure to get there in time to help.

* * *

Kiba smirked as he kicked off a tree, Shino's scent was near. Akamaru barked as the two grew closer. The Inuzuka was dressed in his normal attire, managing to change after leaving the hospital. It wasn't that he didn't think the situation was urgent, there just was something unappealing about fighting in a hospital robe with his backside visible.

He had heard from Hinata that Shino had left on a mission with Naruto. He hadn't thought much of it until he heard that Sasuke had defected and Naruto had put together a team consisting of the first ninja he saw.

News traveled fast in Konoha, the details of the mission obviously coming from a ninja, but he decided to go help out. He wouldn't abandon his friends and comrades.

"Let's kick it up a notch Akamaru!" Kiba grinned as he sped his pace. Akamaru barked and followed after him.

**Ch. 42 End**

**That's it for this one guys. Sorry it took a while but I've been busy. Anyway, I'm sure some of you already know the new member of the Sound Four is. Before you ask, take into consideration that Kimimaro was fully healed by Tsunade back in the _Remains of Sound _Arc. This means that he has more responsibilities and is more trusted by Orochimaru. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	43. Lee's Desperate Attack!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch.43 Lee's Desperate Attack!**

"Wind Style: Devastation!"

Wind shot towards a calm Kimimaro. The Sound ninja watched the attack in disinterest, a weak jutsu like that wouldn't do much damage to him. Using chakra to plant his feet on the ground, he took the attack without moving. The wind pushing against him but not doing much. He was pushed back a bit before the attack finally seized.

He turned to the two Leaf ninja with a frown, "This will not be enough to defeat me."

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" yelled Naruto as hundreds of clones filled the area.

"Here we go!" they cried as they charged at the enemy while Naruto and Ino stayed behind.

Two bone swords came out of Kimimaro's hands as the first group of the clones ran at him. The Sound ninja cut cleanly through the first before taking a step back to avoid a kick. He proceeded to duck just in time to dodge a tackle from one of the doppelgangers. He stabbed one of his sword upwards and impaled one of the clones before he swung both swords to the right in order to cut through a pair of clones.

Ino watched as Kimimaro fought the army of clones, feeling a bit outclassed by how he was handling them. Kimimaro was actually beating the clones with ease, not one had managed to hit him so far. She was starting to understand why Naruto was so wary of him.

"Listen up Ino, here's the plan," Naruto began, watching as his clone's numbers were decreasing. "We're only going to stall him long enough to get Sasuke back. If we can manage to do that, then our mission will be over," he slipped into his taijutsu stance just as the remaining clones continued their assault, "Granny Tsunade said that a Jonin would be on the way. Let's do our best until then."

"Right," Ino smiled knowing that they had a better chance than before. If they only needed to stall until someone got there then they had a much better chance.

Kimimaro dodged another punch before cutting the arm off of one of the pesky clones. Two clones ran at him with extended arms from opposite directions, ready to strike their enemy. The Sound ninja spun to his right, making the clones dispel each other before sidestepping a clone's mindless charge. With a flick of his wrist he cut through the clone before swiping at his left, dispelling one more.

He prepared for another wave of clones when, much to his puzzlement, the rest burst in clouds of smoke at the same time. Focusing his eyes he caught part of the smoke swirling rapidly before a blue light became apparent.

Naruto charged at Kimimaro with a Rasengan on hand. The Sound ninja prepared to jump away, only to be held down by a pair of hands coming from the ground.

"Rasengan!" he exclaimed as his attack neared the Sound ninja.

Kimimaro's eyes narrowed as he dug his swords into the ground, dispelling the clone underground before sidestepping the attack. Naruto's eyes widened as he received a knee to his stomach. He spat blood before using his right hand to grasp Kimimaro's right arm, stopping one of the swords from cutting through his neck.

"Water Style: Liquid Bullets!"

Kimimaro was forced to jump away as water bullets shot past him. He frowned at the kunoichi that intervened on his fight, "It doesn't matter if there's two of you. I'll still kill you in Lord Orochimaru's name."

"Got any more plans?" Ino couldn't help but ask, unable to mask the worry in her voice.

Naruto chuckled as he bit his thumb. "Just one more," he muttered as he ran through hand signs before slamming both hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu!"

A human-sized toad appeared before Naruto. It had purple skin with a white underbelly. Two katanas were strapped to his back, giving its warrior status away, "What'cha summon me for?"

"I want you to keep him busy," Naruto ordered with his eyes on Kimimaro, "He can sprout bones out of his body, be careful."

"You got it," the toad smirked before leaping at the Sound ninja with both katanas on hand.

Kimimaro raised his swords to stop the toad's attack. He let out a small grunt due to the force behind the toad's blades but managed to keep their blades intertwined. The toad kept on putting more pressure, forcing him to jump away in order to put a little distance.

The Sound ninja frowned, the summon would get annoying if he didn't take care of him quick. He leapt at the toad, wanting to use the momentum to his advantage, and brought both swords down on the toad. The summon met the attack with his own blades without much trouble before pushing off the ground, taking Kimimaro by surprise.

Kimimaro was pushed higher in the air from the toad's powerful jump. He brought both feet down on the summon before kicking off of it, putting a fair distance away from it. The two landed on the ground without much trouble, both facing each other and ready to attack.

Meanwhile Naruto and Ino made it to the odd barrel, looking at it in wonder.

"So, this is where they're keeping Sasuke," Ino frowned as she turned to her boyfriend, "How will we take it back to Konoha without that Sound ninja noticing. The thing is huge."

"Don't worry about it," he smirked as he prepared a jutsu. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," four clones appeared before the blond, looking at him questioningly, "I want you guys to take this barrel back to Konoha. Ino and I will try to keep anyone from chasing after you."

The clones left without a word, seeing as the situation was serious. Naruto turned back to the toad's fight. It appeared that they were evenly matched so far but he knew better. Kimimaro had yet to use a jutsu which meant that he was holding back or saving his strength.

"Let's go Ino," he ran at Kimimaro with Ino close behind. The clones were already disappearing in the distance. Now all they needed to do was stall Kimimaro, how hard could that be?

* * *

Lee found himself on the defensive as Jugo's attack grew more aggressive. He knocked aside an incoming punch only to receive another to his right shoulder. Letting out a short grunt of pain, he raised his right knee to strike his stomach. The Sound ninja quickly raised his own knee to block the attack before punching Lee on the chest with both hands.

Lee was pushed away from the ninja but quickly regained his balance and managed to duck under an incoming punch. He grit his teeth as he jerked his body upwards, headbutting the ninja on the chin. He followed with a serious of punches to his upper body before finishing off with a hard kick to the ninja's side.

Jugo sailed through the air before quickly regaining his balance and landing on a nearby tree branch. The darkened skin on the corner of his face began to spread, now covering most of it. "Let's see how you do against this!" he exclaimed with a grin as he raised both arms.

Lee's eyes widened as Jugo's arms changed into cylinders with a hollow interior. The inside of the arms began to glow bright blue as two orbs of chakra gathered at the tips.

"Chakra Bullet Barrage!"

Blasts of chakra shot out of Jugo's arms, heading straight for the green-clad ninja. He kicked off the tree he had been standing off, narrowly dodging the blasts that impacted against the tree, leaving nothing but debris and smoke. His jaw clenched when he saw more of the bullets heading his way.

He was airborne, dodging an attack like that would be almost impossible. Lee was forced to cross his arms in front of his chest, taking one of the bullets head on. He screamed in pain as he was flung against a tree from the power of the impact.

Lee let out a choked scream as his back slammed against the tree before sliding down into a sitting position. Both his arms burned from the attack and, taking a glance at them, they were in no good condition. Parts of skin had been burnt off with the rest being covered in a bloody mess. He hissed in pain but knew that he had to get up quick, the ninja would be coming after him.

His legs trembled as he managed a standing position. "Gai-sensei… I won't let you down," he muttered weakly, already knowing what needed to be done. The Sound ninja landed on a near tree with a grin on his darkened face, "It seems I need to use them again."

Chakra flared around Lee as he focused his mind. He let out a few grunts as the chakra grew more violent, kicking up dust and breaking off parts of the tree from the cheer power.

"First gate open!"

Chakra continued to swirl around Lee as his eyes glared at the Sound ninja. "Second gate open!" his skin turned a dark shade of red as he continued to build up his strength. Jugo gritted his teeth before leaping at the ninja, he wouldn't let him finish whatever he was planning.

"Third gate open!"

Jugo's arm turned into an axe as he brought it down on the Leaf ninja. His eyes widened in shock as his attack met nothing but air. He took a step back with his eyes peeled for any sort of movement. Just how had the Leaf ninja dodged his attack that quickly? Such level of speed was almost unreal.

"I'm over here!" Jugo heard from his right before receiving a bone-crushing kick to his right side. He staggered backwards in pain before receiving a hard punch to his stomach. Blood splattered out of his mouth as he struggled to regain his breath.

Not giving him any time to recover, Lee followed up with a kick to the Sound ninja's chest, hurling him through the air. Lee leapt after him, moving right underneath him with the remainder of his bandages breaking loose. The bandages wrapped tightly around Jugo as Lee began to spin them both towards the ground head-first.

Jugo growled in anger as purple chakra flared around him. The two continued to fall with the chakra shielding them from view. Lee kept his hold on the ninja as they went down but felt the increasing strength of his opponent. His hold began to slip as Jugo flailed widely against his grip.

"This is nothing Leaf trash!" Jugo laughed as his darkened face with a black stripe on the middle came to view, "Die! Die! Die!"

Lee felt pressure against his right side before something impaled through his right ribcage. Blood poured out of the wound as his hold on the Sound ninja finally dropped. The green-clad ninja let out a scream of agony as Jugo moved his back from side to side, deepening whatever had impaled him.

"AAAAAHHHHH," Lee cried in pure pain as the Sound ninja kept on flailing wildly.

Jugo laughed as he kept on moving his body from side to side. One of the many jet-like appendages on his back had impaled Lee and he was savoring each scream. He chuckled as he flared chakra through the appendages, earning another agony-filled scream from his opponent. The force of the flare pushed him away from the ninja but he easily landed on one of the many trees in the area while Lee fell limply on the ground.

Jugo jumped down to take a closer look at the ninja he had just fought. His eyes were closing on their own while he struggled to move even a single inch. His body shook from the amount of pain running through it and his breath was weak.

He smirked as he prepared to deliver the finishing blow. His death had been a fun one and, though it had been a short fight, he had savored each moment of it. "Now die!" he laughed as he brought his fist down on the Genin.

* * *

Shino kept his gaze on Kidomaru, the latter with a smirk on his face. The bug-user knew that he was at a big disadvantage since his bugs were out of the fight. It was true that he had been training to rid himself of that weakness but it would take time before he was able to fight properly without the aid of his bugs.

"Let's end this already," Kidomaru ran through hand signs before slamming both hands on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" dozens of spiders shot at Shino as Kidomaru place a hand near his mouth.

Shino used a cloud of bugs to slow the spiders down before jumping away. He landed on a branch while quickly digging his hand into one of his pockets, taking out a single kunai with a tag attached to the end. He flicked his wrist and sent the kunai flying.

Kidomaru smirked as the kunai impacted against the ground before exploding and taking most of the spiders with it. He quickly formed a large bow and jumped up a near tree, taking aim at the bug-user.

Shino was forced to destroy the remaining spiders since they were still after him. His bugs were taking care of most while he did his part with a pair of kunai. As he was about to strike another spider he caught the sound of something shooting through the air. He turned his head to see an arrow made of the brown material heading straight for him.

He quickly jumped away and landed on the ground, keeping a heads up in case another arrow was shot. Once more he heard the whistling sound of the arrow shooting through the air and quickly ran through hand signs. He slammed both hands on the ground, his jutsu now completed, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

The wall of earth rose in front of Shino, blocking the incoming arrow with ease. His chakra reserves were on the low side now, using earth jutsu was taxing on his body since his reserves weren't that great.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Another group of spiders leapt at Shino, making him curse and jump up the wall he had just created. He took out a pair of kunai with two explosive tags attached as the spiders grew closer. Just as he was about to throw them, another arrow shot at him. Shino was forced to jump away in order to avoid the projectile, only to see a second one heading for him. With no time to dodge he flung one of the kunai at the incoming arrow, exploding against it on impact.

Shino, not being able to move away, was caught in the shockwave of the explosion. He was flung through the air before crashing against a tree painfully, part of his head hitting against it. He bit back a scream as he kicked off the tree and landed on the ground, now with a bit of blood trailing down his face.

He let out a gasp when he saw hundreds of spiders moving towards him. As he prepared another kunai he caught sight of movement from his right, noticing another one of those arrows shooting at him. Shino prepared to move away but was stopped by a string of web wrapping around him. He struggled against the web as his bugs worked on taking the chakra off of it.

Shino's eyes widened from beneath his glasses, the arrow was now only a few feet away and his bugs wouldn't be able to break him free fast enough . Feeling defeated, he could only close his eyes in anticipation only to feel something tackle his side. He opened his eyes to see Kiba standing over him with a smirk on his face.

"Kiba?" he muttered in puzzlement, "Weren't you supposed to be in the hospital?"

Kiba simply chuckled. "And where would you be if I was?" he took in a breath, smelling the area around him and picking out the scent of Kidomaru with ease. "Let's go Akamaru!" the pup yipped as it took the form of Kiba, "Fang Over Fang!"

Kidomaru's eyes widened as two spinning blurs shot at him. He ran through hand sings as he made a small web. "Summoning Jutsu," he slammed both hands on the web, creating a large poof of smoke. The smoke cleared to reveal a giant spider with dark red skin. The spider began to move, only to collide with Kiba's incoming attack. It screeched in pain as Kiba and Akamaru dug through it before it finally disappeared.

Kiba and Akamaru returned to normal and landed in front of Kidomaru. Kiba leapt at the Sound ninja, throwing a punch that was easily caught by one of six hands. Kidomaru smirked as he grabbed the Leaf ninja with two hands before punching him with the others. Kiba grunted in pain with each strike, now knowing that fighting him in taijutsu had been a bad idea.

Kidomaru continued his assault before feeling a set of teeth digging into his skin. He let out a cry of pain, looking down to see Akamaru biting on his leg. "Fucking dog!" he cursed as he kicked his leg from side to side. Kiba took advantage of the distraction and brought both legs to Kidomaru's chest before adding chakra into them.

Kidomaru felt a building pressure on his chest before he was shot away from Kiba, with Akamaru letting go off his leg. His chest was in pain but he still managed to twist himself on the air and land safely on the ground. He looked at his stinging chest to see a large gash on his upper torso with a bit of skin peeled off in a few places.

"I'm going to kill you for this!" he yelled in anger.

Kiba smirked, crossing his arms, "No you're not. I was simply distracting you."

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

Four walls rose around the Sound ninja, blocking his vision of the Leaf ninja. He turned to the top of the walls to see Shino standing there with his hands held together on a hand seal.

"This is where our fight ends," Shino deadpanned. "Earth Style: Mud Spikes!"

Spikes shot out of each wall, starting at the top. Kidomaru's hands shook as the spikes grew nearer before a spike tore through his right side. Blood stained the mud walls and most of Kidomaru's clothes, his three right arms now missing. He let out a mortified scream before more spikes shot out of the wall and silenced him.

Shino panted as he sat against a tree with Kiba leaning against it with his arms crossed and Akamaru at his side. "That was one crazy jutsu Shino!" Kiba smiled excitedly, "When did you learn it?"

"I trained on elemental jutsu once our mission to the Sound bases was over," he explained, "I found that I had an Earth affinity. It works for me since most Earth jutsu are easy to use in trap strategies."

Kiba nodded absently, "Are you okay? You look really tired man."

"I have close to no chakra left in my body," he grunted as he tried to stand but fell back against the tree, "Not to mention the possibility of broken bones."

Kiba smirked as he helped Shino to his feet, "Like I told you. You're lucky I got out of the hospital."

* * *

Kimimaro blocked an incoming slash from the toad summon, before swinging his own sword. The summon proved to be agile as it quickly jumped over the attack before swinging his katanas once more. The Sound ninja sidestepped as he parried one of the blades. Now with an opening he pointed his right hand at the toad's side.

"Die…" he muttered as pieces of bone shot out of his fingertips. The attack dug into the frogs skin before it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kimimaro turned to his left to see the two blondes, both on their taijutsu stances. He looked around the area and found no sign of the barrel, his eyes hardened on the Leaf ninja, "Where is it?"

Naruto smirked. "It was taken away while you were fighting my summon," he noticed the way Kimimaro's yaw seemed to clench before continuing, "You won't catch up to it now."

"What makes you think I won't?" Kimimaro asked in a dangerously calm voice.

Naruto turned to Ino, the latter giving him a quick nod. He grinned in determination, with Ino by his side he knew that they would be able to stall long enough, "Because we're here to stop you."

**Ch. 43 End**

**Well, that's the chapter. As you can see, fights are ending now which means that it won't be long for the final fight. It was hard to write this chapter but I'm glad with how it turned out. Next chapter might take a bit since I've had a lot of work in college and can't find a lot of time to write between school and work. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	44. NaruIno Combination

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 44 NaruIno Combination**

"I won't be stopped," Kimimaro muttered with a calm look on his face. He bent his knees slightly, preparing to move when needed. His swords were gripped tightly on his hands as he kept his eyes peeled for any sort of movement. He drew a short breath before speaking once more, "There is no way that I'll ever fail Lord Orochimaru."

Naruto frowned as he gathered chakra on his right hand. The seal there responded and his blade appeared on his open hand. "Ino…" he muttered to the blonde kunoichi standing next to him. Ino turned to him, wondering how they would go about the fight. "I want you to stay back for now."

"W-what?" she stuttered in disbelief, with a bit of anger on her voice.

"I'll be the bait," he explained as he prepared to move. "Just wait for an opening and attack with all you have," with that he kicked off the ground, charging straight for Kimimaro. Ino stayed behind for the time being, telling herself that if Naruto was in the smallest amount of trouble she would attack.

Naruto gathered wind chakra on his blade as he ran, its size and sharpness increasing. Once close enough, he slashed at Kimimaro but he easily blocked with his two swords. Naruto gathered more chakra on the intertwined blade, beginning to slice through the bone swords. Kimimaro's eyes widened slightly, never witnessing his bone being sliced by another blade before. Seeing as his swords wouldn't hold out more longer, he kicked at the blond with his right leg.

Naruto took noticed the incoming kick and quickly raised his left leg, blocking the incoming kick with his knee. He proceeded to push against the intertwined blades before jumping away and landing a few feet away.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed as a pair of clones appeared at his side.

Both clones stayed behind as Naruto charged at Kimimaro once more. The jinchuuriki jumped in the air before reaching out with his right hand and forming a Rasengan, still with a bit of distance away from the enemy. Kimimaro wondered briefly what he was doing before taking notice of the two clones standing behind the incoming ninja.

The clones ran through hand signs, pointing their attacks at the air-bone Naruto. "Wind Style: Devastation!" the clones dispersed as a powerful wind shot towards the original Naruto. The air pushed against the blond, increasing his speed as he approached the enemy ninja.

Kimimaro frowned as the attack grew closer, now knowing why Naruto had used the clones. He quickly jumped to the side, dodging the incoming Naruto that was forced to disperse his Rasengan and flip in the air in order to land safely. The Sound ninja turned to Naruto only for his eyes to widened as a torrent of water approached him. Not expecting the attack, he took it full force and was hurled through the air before crashing against a tree.

"That was great Ino," Naruto praised as he moved to stand next to her.

"I know I'm great," she smiled before turning back to Kimimaro with her expression turning into a frown. He was already standing with a look of anger on his face. "But he's already back up. I thought that my attack would buy us a little more time."

Naruto smiled bitterly. "We'll need a lot more than that," he turned to Ino, giving her a curt nod, "We have to attack together if we want to stand a chance."

"It's about all we can do," Ino nodded as she turned back to the enemy.

Kimimaro narrowed his eyes on the two Leaf shinobi. He had underestimated them and dropped his guard but he would make sure that it wouldn't happen again. "You two will not go unpunished for this," he growled as his swords dug back into his skin. He then pointed both hands at the Leaf ninja, "Take this."

Sharp pieces of bone shot out of Kimimaro's hands, heading straight for the couple just as Naruto ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" the powerful gust of air shot through the area, blowing away all of the incoming projectiles as it headed for Kimimaro.

The Sound ninja ended his attack, knowing that continuing it would be futile. As the air passed by him, he began to run at the two Leaf ninja. Bones stuck out of most of his upper body, shredding part of his shirt off. The two ninja didn't know what hit them as he closed in on them and stabbed with his two swords, though he instantly felt something was off. Just as he expected, both ninja turned to clouds of smoke, leaving him to wonder where the originals were.

"Wind Style/Water Style!" Kimimaro heard both voices coming from either side of him. He turned to his right, easily noticing Naruto standing on a tree. Turning to his left he found the kunoichi standing a fair distance away from his.

"Air/Liquid Bullets!" Blasts of wind and water shot at Kimimaro. The Sound shinobi moved from side to side in order to avoid the incoming attacks as two more bone swords formed on his hands. He used his swords to break apart a few of the bullets while most of them hit each other and dispersed.

Soon the attacks ended, leaving only Kimimaro standing on a large puddle. He began to move but felt a pair of hands take hold of his feet. A growl emitted from his lips as he stabbed the new clone holding his feet from underneath the ground, hearing the familiar dispersing sound.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as four clones appeared around him. The clones jumped away from each other, forming a circle around Kimimaro though keeping a good distance away. The blond followed with a series of hand signs before putting a hand to his mouth, his clones mimicking his actions, "Wind Style: Wind Wave!" The streams of air hit against the ground around the Sound ninja, blowing the water around Kimimaro.

Ino moved closer to Kimimaro before mending the air-bone water, spinning it counter-clock wise and creating a large whirlpool. Kimimaro was swallowed up by the large whirpool, his face showing nothing but fury.

Naruto jumped up a tree before kicking off of it and forming an orb of air on his right hand. He sailed through the air before diving into the whirlpool, sticking his right hand out as he neared the spinning Kimimaro.

"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" he exclaimed as the orb of wind met the Sound ninja's back. Kimimaro let out a scream of pain as he was slammed onto the ground. The water died down as Naruto landed safely on the ground.

"I can't believe that worked," Ino smiled as she moved next to Naruto.

The Chunin grinned slightly. "We had the element of surprise on our side but an attack like that won't work again," he explained with his eye on the dust cloud that had kicked up due to Kimimaro's impact against the ground, "He'll expect things like this from now on. Let's just have our jutsu stall him only and try to wound him when the opportunity comes."

Ino nodded in agreement. They had caught the Sound ninja by distracting him and thinking two steps ahead. The air and water bullets had been a good distraction that had also gathered the necessary amount of water for her to mend. Next up were the wind waves Naruto had made in order to have the water completely surround Kimimaro. Lastly she had simply done her first water control training exercise, albeit using a lot more chakra, which resulted in a large whirlpool that kept him in place for Naruto to deliver a strong point-blank range attack.

"How's your chakra?" Naruto suddenly asked, breaking her train of thought.

Ino turned to Naruto with a small grin on her face, "I still have a good amount left even though I used up a lot of it controlling the whirlpool. We have to come up with a name for that anyway."

Naruto chuckled. "It has to be a cool name though. Something like that it's-"

The Chunin was cut off as a sudden wave of chakra engulfed the area. The couple turned to see Kimimaro standing before them with black marks running across his face and upper torso, his shirt being thorn off by the bones that had stuck out of his body. His gaze held nothing but anger as a dark purple chakra swirled around him.

"I've had enough of you," Kimimaro frowned as a piece of bone struck out of his right hand. He let out a hiss as a broad bone sword emerged from his hand, taking hold of it with both hands.

Ino turned to Naruto with a frown on her face. She had seen those marks before, in her mission to the Sound bases to be exact. Kimimaro's had a different pattern but she was sure they were the same, "It's one of those Curse Marks from the mission to the Sound bases, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, remembering the enemies they had taken down that day. They had all possessed the Curse Mark and had been really hard to stop which made him wonder how much stronger Kimimaro had gotten. Just by looking at him he could tell that the gap between their powers had only increased and not by little.

Wind chakra gathered around the blade Naruto held as he walked a bit closer to Ino. "Remember to keep your distance from him," he warned, "We'll just need to stall a little longer anyway."

Ino smiled bitterly, "Easier said than done."

* * *

Neji stood his ground as Tayuya's remaining ogre charged at him. He listened to the tone Tayuya now played, it was a more upbeat and chaotic one. Judging from the last attacks, the ogre would take an aggressive style of fighting.

The ogre raised its club as it closed in on the Hyuuga. Neji remained still as the weapon descended upon him, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. His byakuugan activated as he sidestepped the attack though not managing to avoid getting his arm scraped by one of the spikes on it. He gathered chakra on his right hand before striking the ogre on the chest, hitting its heart directly.

"Not bad," Tayuya smirked as the summon disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Neji turned to face her with his byakuugan glaring into her eyes. The Sound ninja didn't seemed fazed as she pulled more chakra out of the Curse Mark, causing her appearance to begin to change. Her skin grew darker, two horns sprouted out of her now longer hair and her eyes turned to a glaring yellow. She smirked as she faced the Leaf ninja, "It's too bad that I'll have to get serious now."

Neji dropped into his taijutsu stance. "If that's the case then maybe I should get serious as well," he smirked, earning a glare from Tayuya.

Tayuya slammed both hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Four ogres emerged from a cloud of smoke, all of them carrying clubs. Neji fought the urge to yell out in annoyance. He had just taken down three of those and now he needed to take out four more. It was only through cheer willpower that he managed to keep his face calm.

The Hyuuga took out a couple of kunai, attaching exploding tags on both. _'I have to take them out quickly. If I don't then I'll only end up wasting energy fighting them,' _he was broken out of his thoughts by the distinct sound of Tayuya's flute beginning to play. Now with the knowledge of her different tunes he had an idea of what she would be doing, '_They're going to attack head on.'_

Neji jumped up a near tree branch just as an ogre chased after him. He landed on the branch before beginning to run up the tree. Just as he took another step, an ogre suddenly tackled him from his side. His eyes widened as he was hurled through the air but managed to regain balance and land safely on the ground.

His eyes narrowed as he leaned to his right, barely avoiding a thrust from one of the ogre's clubs. _'What is this?' _he wondered as another ogre charged at him. The large summon swung at him but met only ground as Neji rolled to his left. He dropped his first kunai before running at one of the ogres, catching movement out of the corner of his eye.

'_How are they organized?' _Neji skidded to a stop before jumping backwards, avoiding a powerful swing of the newly arrived ogre. Counting the one that had chased him and the three that had been waiting for him to move, he had already faced all of the ogres. Right now three were in front of him which meant that the last one would be waiting to attack, but that didn't make any sense.

Judging by the tune from the flute they should be charging at him instead of going through strategies, _'Did I read her fighting style wrong?'_

Tayuya smirked from her spot on a tree branch. Seeing the confusion on the Leaf ninja's face, she concluded that he had been thrown off by her change of tune. A thing he didn't know was that there were different tunes for each commands. Making him read the first tunes had been part of her plan to catch him off guard.

Neji's byakuugan caught sight of the last ogre charging at him from behind. He dropped his remaining kunai before jumping up a tree, coming to a stop while glancing at the gathered ogres. He quickly set his hand in the ram seal, not wanting the ogres to spread out again, "Take this!"

Both kunai exploded beneath the group of ogres. Dust and debris kicked up in a powerful explosion that covered everything from view. Neji briefly wondered how Naruto had made such powerful explosive tags but dismissed it as he ran behind a set of trees that would hide him from view.

Tayuya covered her eyes from the incoming dust and debris. She had seen him drop the kunai when running but she had assumed he had simply been too preoccupied to hang on to them and on the off chance that he had been doing it on purpose, she hadn't expected him to have such powerful exploding tags.

She uncovered her eyes once the smoke cleared, none of her summons remaining from the explosion. There was a large crater in the ground before her and several trees had broken in two. She scanned the area for the Hyuuga but found no sign of him, much to her luck.

Tayuya placed the flute to her lips, playing a soft tune that filled the area. Her genjutsu would be able to take him out of his hiding place.

Neji stood against a tree with his byakuugan active in case of a sneak attack. So far he had only seen Tayuya begin to play her flute before there was a sudden burst of chakra from her. _'She's casting a genjutsu,' _he frowned as he stopped his chakra before flaring it in order to prevent himself from being caught in the genjutsu. He quickly took out a kunai before flinging it towards a large tree. Just one opening would be needed and, hopefully, the sound of the kunai hitting the tree would distract her long enough.

He kept his gaze on her as the kunai stabbed into the tree. Her head snapped to the side, obviously hearing the sound. This was his chance.

Neji emerged from his spot behind a large tree before kicking off the ground, heading straight for the Sound ninja. Tayuya, hearing the sound of footsteps, turned around to see Neji nearing her with his right fist held back. Too late to dodge, she received a hard open-palm strike to her chest, instantly rendering her unconscious as she was sent flying through the air.

Neji landed on the tree branch Tayuya had been standing on as her body fell limply on the ground. "I'm finally done here…" he muttered to himself as he jumped down the tree and approached the Sound ninja. He kneeled next to her to see her chest rising and falling.

He had expected this. His open-palm strike hadn't been a fatal one, he had only opted for knocking her out. She didn't know that he could see when a genjutsu was going to be cast, which would explain why she had been caught completely off guard. He had contemplated on just killing her but capturing her would be a lot more useful.

* * *

The four Naruto clones ran through the trees of the dense forest. One of them held the barrel containing Sasuke on its back with an angry frown.

The clone carrying the Uchiha suddenly came to a realization, eyes widening in understanding. "Wait a minute!" it called out, making the three other clones stop on their tracks and look at him quizzically. "Why the hell am I carrying this thing?" the clone put the barrel down before crossing its arms and letting out a huff, "I'm not taking another step with that thing. Someone else carry it."

"Fuck that!" a clone roared in rage, "You carry it! It was your job after all!"

Another clone shook its head, "This is just wasting time."

"Um, guys… we shouldn't be fighting," the last clone spoke up.

"When did I agree to this?" the clone asked in anger, obviously ignoring the last two clones.

"Just shut up already. Your voice is annoying!"

"We have the same voice!"

The clones continued their argument before a sudden sound from the barrel caught their attention. One of the clones stepped closer to the barrel only to be stabbed by a hand covered in lightening before dispersing in a cloud of smoke. The other clones watched as their ally dispersed and the barrel broke into pieces, the last Uchiha now standing before them.

Sasuke smirked as he looked at the clones. His sharingan glared at the three clones before deactivating, Sasuke's stance relaxing before he spoke, "Where's the real Naruto?"

"Why do you even care?" one of the clones smirked, "Are you looking for the boss so that he can kick your ass… again?"

Sasuke's visible eye narrowed before he blurred out of view. The clone's eyes widened in shock before receiving a hard kick to the face that dispersed it upon contact. The remaining clones slipped into their taijutsu stances while Sasuke simply smirked in amusement.

A clone quickly ran through hand signs before putting a hand to its lips. "Wind Style: Devastation!" it yelled before dispersing.

The powerful wind shot at the Uchiha just as he finished running through his own hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" his own powerful wind met the other before it could near him. The result was a small twister that dispersed quickly. Sasuke smirked before catching movement from his left, turning to see the remaining clone charging at him with an orb of compressed wind on its right hand.

Sasuke smirked before using his own jutsu, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The flames met the spinning orb of compressed wind in an explosion that engulfed the clone. Sasuke watched his handiwork with a smirk. The clones were no problem and now he had a good idea of how to defend himself against most of Naruto's jutsu.

Sasuke turned around and broke into a run. The clones had been leading him the opposite direction which meant that he would eventually run into one of those Sound ninja that would take him to Orochimaru if he just kept going in a straight line.

Now with the clones gone, he knew that Naruto would be soon to follow. He smirked as he moved through the forest, he couldn't wait to settle his score with Naruto.

* * *

Kimimaro charged at the two Leaf ninja with his broad sword held to his side. The two shinobi jumped away from the area before running through hand signs, already taking aim. Naruto was the first to attack with several air bullets that he easily dodged by jumping away. Next was a torrent of water from the kunoichi that he simply sidestepped.

The Sound ninja jumped away from the water that had built up on the ground. He knew better than to be caught in the same trap again. If they didn't have enough water, then they couldn't use any strong water jutsu.

Naruto ran through hand signs as he watched Kimimaro jump away before the memory of his clones hit him all at once. He hissed in pain, putting a hand to his head and closing his eyes. The clones had been running around for a while and such long memories always gave him headaches.

"Are you alright?" Ino asked in alarm, having no idea why he suddenly looked hurt.

The Chunin shook his head as he processed the memories. Sasuke was awake now and needed to be stopped before he got to Orochimaru but, throwing a glance at Ino, he knew for a fact that he wouldn't let himself let her fight alone. It looked like things had changed, instead of stalling Kimimaro now they needed to defeat him in order to get to Sasuke before it was too late.

"Ino…" Naruto muttered with a frown on his face. His clenched the blade on his right hand as wind chakra gathered around it. "Sasuke escaped the clones," Ino's eyes widened before he continued, "Our mission is to stop him from going to Orochimaru. It looks like we'll have to defeat this Sound ninja so that we can complete it."

"Then, we'll continue to attack him with combination attacks, right?" she asked, receiving a nod from her boyfriend. Ino grinned, "Then let's get rid of this freak quickly."

Naruto chuckled and gave her a nod, "Let's."

The two jumped in front of Kimimaro with renowned vigor. They would no longer try to stall, this time they would try to go for the kill.

"It seems you two decided not to run anymore," Kimimaro commented with a calm expression on his face, a total contrast to the flaring purple chakra around him, "That's good. It will make it easier to kill you."

An orb of compressed wind formed on Naruto's right hand as he smirked at the Sound ninja, "We'll see about that."

Naruto dug the attack into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust that shielded him and Ino from view. Kimimaro watched closely for any sings of movement before seeing several shadows appear inside the cloud of dust. He frowned as dozens of Naruto clones charged recklessly at him.

He ran at the neared clone and swung his sword, cutting cleanly through it. The next clone threw a punch but he easily dove under it before a bone struck out of his shoulder and impaled the clone. More bones appeared around his body as he cut through the small army of clones, cutting them all with ease.

From behind the clones Naruto ran through hand sings. "Wind Style…" he began as all of the clones suddenly dispersed in a large cloud of smoke. Kimimaro looked at him oddly before the Chunin released his jutsu, "Devastation!"

The powerful wind shot through the air, blowing all of the smoke at Kimimaro who simply held his ground. His vision was blocked but he knew not to get impatient, they wouldn't attack him directly since he could easily outmatch them both.

The air around Kimimaro cleared to reveal no sign of the Konoha shinobi. He frowned before catching movement to his left and spotting the kunoichi running through hand signs.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!" she exclaimed as a torrent of water shot out of her mouth.

"Pathetic…" Kimimaro muttered as he sidestepped the attack. The water shot past him and drenched the ground where he had just been standing. He prepared to charge at the kunoichi but heard a rumbling sound. His attention turned to the ground as Naruto broke through it with his blade on hand.

Naruto slashed at the Sound ninja, his blade enhanced with wind chakra. Kimimaro's eyes widened in shock as he leaned his body back at the last second, successfully avoiding the attack's full force but not a large, though not deep, wound on his chest. Blood emitted from the wound as Naruto ran through hand signs in a speed he hadn't seen earlier.

"Wind Style: Wind Wave!"

Kimimaro didn't have time to dodge the point-blank attack and was pushed away from the blond. He growled as he skidded backwards, his chance to retaliate gone because of the last minute jutsu. The two ninja were running his patience and his control over the Curse Mark's intensified emotions was slipping.

Naruto landed on the ground with a focused gaze on his eyes. His attacks so far hadn't put much damage, if any, on Kimimaro. They had only delayed or stopped Kimimaro from attacking him or Ino. It looked as if the only thing they were doing was annoy the Sound ninja.

More purple chakra flared around Kimimaro as he glared at the blond ninja. The same shinobi Orochimaru had told him to kill only a few weeks ago. He would fulfill his lord's request, the ninja needed to die and he would make sure of it.

Kimimaro placed a hand on the ground and concentrated. The two ninja were proving to be annoying when together, he would need to separate them and kill them separately.

Seeing that Kimimaro was open for an attack, Naruto quickly ran through hand signs while he had the chance. As he finished preparing his attack he felt a sudden rumbling coming from beneath him. Naruto's eyes widened before jumping away just as a large spike made of bone emerged from where he had just been standing.

'_What the hell was that?' _Naruto wondered as he landed a few feet away. He didn't have much time to ponder since the same rumbling feeling beneath his skin shook his body. Naruto jumped away once more while another spike ripped through the ground, _'Is there no limit to how many he can make?'_

Ino gritted her teeth as she ran through hand signs. She had seen the attacks about to hit Naruto and she wasn't about to let Kimimaro kill him. "Water Style: Raging Waves!"

Kimimaro frowned as the torrent of water headed straight for him. He would need to keep her occupied as well. With a push from the bones moving through the ground, a large spike appeared before him to shield him from the attack. The only downside to his jutsu was that he was open to attacks while conducting his bones but he knew that the Leaf ninja weren't that dangerous from far away.

The kunoichi frowned when her attack was blocked and prepared to try once more, only to hear something moving beneath her. Ino quickly jumped away to see one of those spikes break through the ground. She landed several feet away but heard another one of those spikes coming her way. Again, she leapt away from the area while wondering how she was going to get out of this situation.

Naruto continued to move through the area while dodging the spikes. He wasn't clueless to the fact that he and Ino were away from each other, something Kimimaro had planned no doubt. This itself was a disadvantage, along with the area around him being filled with those spikes. He was running out of running room and would eventually be trapped it he didn't think of something.

He rolled to his side to avoid another incoming spike but, upon taking a look at his surroundings, he found himself completely surrounded by the spikes. "Dammit," Naruto muttered as he ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Devastation!" the powerful gust hit against the ground, pushing Naruto high in the air.

Kimimaro watched the Chunin sail through the air and quickly dug his broad sword in the ground before pointing his free hand at him, "Now die."

Naruto's eyes widened as needles of bone shot at him. _'Dammit, I can't dodge this!' _he gritted his teeth in anger before running through hand sings as fast as he could, but just as he was going to finish his jutsu a cloud of sand gathered in front of him. His brows furrowed in confusion before the cloud of sand wrapped around his waist and pulled him away.

Naruto landed safely on the ground, the sand around him moving away. He turned to where the sand was going and couldn't help but feel a little relieved. There stood Gaara with his arms crossed and a blank expression on his face.

"Gaara?" Naruto muttered with a grin. Just how did he always manage to appear at the right times?

"Good to see you again, Uzumaki," Gaara nodded at him before turning his attention to Kimimaro, "It seems I arrived just in time."

Kimimaro pulled his arm out of the ground, ending his control of the spikes. Ino moved to stand next to Naruto and the newly arrived Gaara with a bit of sweat on her face. She panted slightly, a bit tired from all the jutsu she had used combined with her dodging the spikes for that long.

"Are you alright Ino?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Ino gave him a smile before nodding, "I'm okay. Let's just get this over with already."

"Right," he grinned, feeling a lot more confident now that he had Ino and Gaara fighting beside him.

Kimimaro looked at Gaara with a frown on his face. "I don't care that there's three of you," he began as purple chakra flared around him. His skin turned a shade darker, six bones sprouted from his back, just above a newly formed tail. The charka flared around him as he glared at the three ninja, "I'm done playing games. All of you will die now."

Naruto, Ino and Gaara slipped into their respective fighting stances. It looked like it was going to be a long fight but time was something they didn't have. Sasuke was getting further away from Konoha as they stood there facing Kimimaro. Naruto silently wondering just how they were going to manage to defeat him fast enough to chase after the last Uchiha.

**Ch. 44 End**

**That's the chapter. For some reason I had a lot of trouble ending the chapter as you can see by the kind of abrupt way it ended, sorry about that.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	45. Reinforcements

**Sorry about the wait but I've been very busy lately. Anyway, here's the next chapter. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 45 Reinforcements**

"Anything I should know about him?" Gaara asked in a hushed tone, his eyes set on the Sound ninja standing in front of them. Even he had to admit that Kimimaro looked rather intimidating by normal standards but, being a jinchuuriki, he knew better than to be intimidated by a transformation that wasn't stronger than the demon sealed within him.

Next to him Naruto and Ino exchanged a quick look, silently agreeing on how to fight the Sound ninja. "He hasn't shown much but he's deadly if you fight him up close," Naruto informed with a frown on his face, "We'll just have to create an opening with long-range attacks and take him out with a powerful attack."

Gaara nodded calmly, "What 'powerful attack' will that be?"

"Naruto's Rasengan will be perfect for this," Ino answered. "I know what it can do and I'm sure he won't waste any opportunity we give him."

"I see," Gaara muttered before turning to Naruto with an almost worried look on his face, "Can you really do it?"

Naruto looked at his two teammates before breaking into a grin, an air of confidence around him, "It won't be easy to fool him again but I'll get it done."

Kimimaro suddenly charged at the group of muttering ninja, two bone swords emitting from his hands as his rough tail left a trail on the ground. Gaara was quick to fire a shot of sand at the incoming ninja though it only managed to slow him down for a second before he broke through the sand with ease.

"Wind Style: Wind Wave!" Naruto shot a blast of wind at the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust before jumping away from the area. Ino and Gaara followed after him, watching as Kimimaro emerged from the cloud of dust.

Kimimaro had a frown on his face. The three ninja weren't making things easy and were quick to get away from him. He knew that if one of his attacks connected it was over but it looked as if it wouldn't be too easy.

"We can't keep running away," Ino complained with a few beads of sweat running down her face.

"She's right," Gaara agreed with his arms crossed, "We won't achieve anything unless we go on the offensive."

"Don't worry," Naruto assured with a focused expression, his eyes glued on the enemy. Kimimaro was simply standing there as if calculating his next move. The Chunin grinned slightly, a plan forming on his head, "Just keep him busy with long-range attacks. I've got a plan."

Gaara glanced at Naruto before turning back to the enemy. "I hope it works," he muttered before shooting a wave of sand at Kimimaro.

The Sound ninja was quick to jump away before pointing a hand at Naruto. Bones gathered at the tips of his fingers before shooting at him. The blond Chunin didn't move as a cloud of sand gathered in front of him, blocking the incoming projectiles. Kimimaro turned to the red-haired ninja knowing that he would be the one he needed to take out first. With that in mind, he jumped at Gaara with his two swords held back.

'_But where did the kunoichi go?' _Kimimaro wondered as he sailed through the air. He suddenly heard movement from behind him and quickly turned to the source, eyes widening when seeing Ino right behind him. He turned his body in order to attack bu, before he could defend himself she threw a punch at him, connecting with his torso and cracking some bones on contact. A groan of pain escaped his lips before being launched away from the kunoichi, landing painfully on the ground.

"That was great Ino!" Naruto cheered from a near tree branch.

'_What was that?' _Kimimaro stood up slowly, his upper torso in pain. _'It's impossible for her to be so physically strong, she's too small for that,' _he glared at the three ninja before his eyes widened in realization, _'That punch was similar to the one Lord Orochimaru's old teammate gave me. Since the same blond ninja is here then that means that they might know each other. I"ll have to watch out for her taijutsu.'_

"Thanks Naruto," Ino smiled as she landed on the ground, glad to see that she had helped out unlike other times when she felt she didn't.

Kimimaro, seeing Ino distracted, quickly leapt at her with his two swords on hand. He watched as her eyes widened in panic before Naruto landed in front of her. Naruto ran through hand signs before putting a hand to his mouth, obviously about to use a wind jutsu. Kimimaro reached out with his right hand before Naruto could finish preparing his jutsu, the bone sword on his right hand shooting at the blond.

'_Shit,' _Naruto cursed, knowing that he wouldn't be fast enough to dodge the attack. He closed his eyes in anticipation before hearing an impacting sound. Opening his eyes he was greeted with the sight of a wall of sand standing in front of him. Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding before jumping away from the area, not wanting to be near Kimimaro's range again.

Kimimaro gritted his teeth as he turned to his left, easily spotting the Sand ninja standing on a tree branch with his arms crossed and sand floating around him. "You will be the first to die, Sand ninja," he stated coldly. Gaara seemed unfazed by the declaration but prepared himself for what he was sure would be a long fight.

Ino watched the exchange of words from her spot on the ground behind Naruto, who stood in front of hair with his blade on hand. "I'm sorry," she suddenly spoke, making Naruto turn to her with a look of confusion. "I let my guard down and you almost got hurt," she lowered her gaze to the ground, feeling her previous confidence go down, "It was all my fault."

"It wasn't sure your fault Ino," Naruto assured with a small smile. "Everyone can let their guard down, we're not perfect," he grinned as he turned back to the Sound ninja, "Just know that every time you do, I'll be there to cover you. I hope you'll do the same for me."

"Always," Ino assured with a smile. She watched the interchange between Gaara and Kimimaro with a frown on her face, turning to Naruto once more, "Are we still going with that plan of yours?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. Keep on using long range attacks to distract him. When the time comes I'll jump in and take him out."

"Alright then," Ino grinned as she ran through hand sings, "Water Style: Liquid Bullets!"

Gaara watched as Ino's attack neared Kimimaro before making his move. Just as the Sound ninja began to jump away, a stream of sand shot at him, successfully wrapping around his ankles.

Kimimaro fell on the ground as the hold on his ankles grew tighter. He glanced down to his legs to see the sand beginning to go up his legs. Not one to be caught so easily, Kimimaro broke through the hold by kicking his legs upwards. Due to his enhanced strength, the sand appeared frail as he easily broke through. He proceeded to stand up before pointing a hand at the Sand ninja and shooting several bone fragments.

Gaara quickly covered himself with a cloud of sand, the bones harmlessly impacting against his sand. His eyes suddenly snapped to his right as another wave of sand covered his right side, blocking a swing from one of Kimimaro's swords.

Kimimaro took a quick glance at Ino's direction, following the movement of her hands, already running through another set of hand signs. He swung at Gaara once more, the sand kicking up and blocking his swipe with ease. Gaara proceeded to shoot a stream of sand at him but he managed to dodge by ducking under the sand.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!"

'_Now's my chance!' _Kimimaro reached for Gaara, a wall of sand instantly coming up. The Sound ninja pushed through the sand before taking a firm grip of Gaara's shirt.

Gaara let out a gasp of surprise before he was hurled through the air with tremendous force. He heard the kunoichi yell at him to move before he was struck with a powerful shot of water on his back. Air left his body in an audible gasp before he crashed against a tree.

Ino ran to help Gaara but had her path blocked by the Sound ninja, wielding both blades on hand. Before she could process what was going on, Kimimaro swung both blades at her. Ino found herself following the movement as she leant backwards to dodge both swipes. She proceeded to kick at the enemy with her right leg, making contact with his stomach.

Kimimaro didn't seem fazed and continued his assault. Ino found it harder and harder to dodge, feeling a bit tired from the whole fight. The fact that Kimimaro's attacks seemed to only get faster didn't help either.

The Sound ninja finally found himself with the upper hand. Gaara was incapacitated for the moment and he was about to take down one more. He swung his blade once more, only to have Ino dodge once more though this time he closed in on her before using his right leg to kick her feet from under her.

'_Dammit,' _Ino thought as she fell to the ground with Kimimaro standing before her with both blades on hand.

"Die," Kimimaro muttered before bringing both swords down on Ino.

Time seemed to slow as the swords neared Ino. She saw her whole life flash before her eyes. Her first day of school. Her first test on becoming a Genin. Meeting Naruto. Learning of his past and helping him open up a bit more. All of those things flashed through her eyes being snapped out of her thoughts buy a loud 'clang.'

Her eyes, she realized had closed during Kimimaro's attack, snapped open to see Naruto standing with his back to her, his blade intertwined with both of Kimimaro's.

"N-Naruto," she let out in relief.

Naruto's eyes hardened on Kimimaro, showing nothing but fury. "I'll tell you only once…" he muttered before his blade began to cut through Kimimaro's bone-swords. The Sound ninja's eyes widened in shock as his two blades were cut in half. "If you get near her again. I'll violently kill you!" he roared as he delivered a harsh kick to Kimimaro's stomach, actually knocking the wind out of him.

Kimimaro didn't have time to react as he received a kick to his head, snapping it to the side as blood splattered out of his mouth. "Take this you bastard," Naruto yelled once more as he formed a Rasengan on his right hand and digging it into Kimimaro's stomach, "Rasengan!"

Pain was all Kimimaro felt as the attack dug deeper and deeper into his stomach. Blood poured out of his mouth as he fought to stay conscious. He couldn't let himself get taken down like this. He still had his Lord's powers.

Purple chakra erupted from Kimimaro, pushing against Naruto's Rasengan. "Dammit…" the Chunin muttered as he fought against the malevolent chakra. He had to keep going, this was their chance and he couldn't waste it. "Just die already!" with one final push his Rasengan dispersed on the Sound ninja's stomach, sending him flying through the air before crashing against the ground, leaving a large cloud of dust behind.

Naruto panted as he looked at the cloud of dust, hoping that their fight was over. His attack had been a sneaky one but he was a ninja, things were supposed to be like this. Stealth, deception and tricks were all tools that were used by shinobi. Anko had taught him this and he had taken it to heart.

"Is he down, Naruto?" Ino asked as she approached the Chunin with a lite limp on her step.

"I hope so," he responded before putting an arm around her shoulder to help her stand, "Are you alright?"

Ino nodded as she looked down at her feet, "I'll be fine but I'm pretty sure he dislocated my ankle though."

"Come on I'll take you back to-" Naruto stopped mid-sentence, his eyes on one of the many trees in the area.

Ino looked at him oddly before turning to see what exactly he was looking at. A gasp escaped her mouth as she looked at who exactly stood on a tree branch, "…Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked as he looked over his two 'ally' Leaf shinobi. "Not bad," he spoke in a smug tone, looking at where the Sound ninja was supposed to be, "That was an okay fight but it took you too long to beat him. What's wrong? Was that all of your strength, Naruto?"

Naruto frowned, "What the hell are you doing here? You should be on your way to Konoha, that's where the clones were taking you!"

"Did you really think I would go back so easily?" he responded calmly before turning away from the two shinobi. "I told you once before Naruto… we are meant to fight. I will not leave for the Sound Village until I fight you, so let's make it quick."

Naruto glanced at Ino, meeting her worried gaze before giving her a sad smile. "Fine," he muttered as he turned back to Sasuke, "Let's get this over wi-"

"I'VE HAD IT!" a deep voice roared as purple chakra erupted around them, gusts of wind shooting through the area.

"What's going on?" Ino yelled out as she wrapped both arms around Naruto in order to keep herself from falling.

Sasuke frowned as his sharingan activated, easily finding the source of the power. He had to admit that it was a lot of power but he didn't appreciate being interrupted like that. His fight with Naruto was near and this idiot had just gotten on the way.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he finally managed to see just who had screamed. "Why won't he stay down?" he growled as he glared at the furious Kimimaro.

Purple chakra swirled around Kimimaro as he kept his eyes glued on Naruto with a burning rage on his eyes. The wound on his stomach was still open though not bleeding anymore, making Naruto wonder just how he had survived a Rasengan.

"I'm done with you," Kimimaro spoke. "I have to admit that I wouldn't have been able to survive that attack if it hadn't been for Lord Orochimaru making my body stronger. But I won't fall for your tricks anymore." He turned to the newly arrived Sasuke before speaking in a commanding tone, "Go to Lord Orochimaru this instant. Our mission depends on it."

Sasuke simply smirked before turning to Naruto. "I couldn't care less about what this tool says but I don't want to fight you here. It's too crowded," he turned his back on Naruto before looking at him over his shoulder, "Come to the Valley of the End. It's a fitting place for our fight."

With that Sasuke finally left, Naruto watching as he got further and further away. His whole mission was slipping out of his hands, he had to think of something quick.

"Don't worry Uzumaki," came the voice of Gaara. Naruto turned his head to see Gaara standing on a cloud of sand with his arms crossed, "We'll take care of him. He's already wounded. Just go get the Uchiha back."

"Do you think I'd just leave you alone," Naruto dismissed the idea with a frown on his face, "I won't leave you guys to fight him on your own."

Kimimaro growled before kicking off the ground, charging straight for Naruto with his right arm held back. Naruto quickly picked Ino up bridal style before jumping away, hoping to dodge the charging ninja. The Sound ninja easily read his movements and jumped after him before pointing a hand at them both, bone fragments gathering on his fingertips.

"Fang Over Fang!"

Two spinning blurs launched at Kimimaro, forcing him to stop dead on his tracks and jump back in order to avoid taking any more damage. The blurs came to a stop to show a smirking Kiba standing next to a growling Akamaru.

"Sorry we're a little late," Kiba grinned as he looked over Kimimaro in clear distaste, "What the hell are you fighting? It looks like a really weird lizard."

"Just don't ask," came the voice of Neji as he landed near the group. He carried his usual Hyuuga monotone expression though he sported a few bruises on his face and a bit of his clothes had been burnt off, "It's not like he'll get to live long enough for us to care."

Kiba chuckled, "Since when did you get so cool?"

Neji simply smirked, "Since when did you think I wasn't?"

"Alright, enough love between you two," Ino sighed out in annoyance, earning a glare from the two ninja, "Sasuke's already gone. We have to make this quick."

Gaara turned to Naruto once more, his calculating eyes daring him to find any reason not to leave, "You have to follow after him. You can't let _your _team fail, can you?"

"Following after Sasuke would be the best option," Neji agreed with a nod, "You don't look too tired Naruto. You're the only one that can bring him back at this point."

"I-I can't," he stuttered before feeling a tug on his vest. His eyes met Ino's, the latter silently telling him that she would be okay. He struggled to answer before finally turning back to the team, "Fine, I'll go. Just make sure to take care of each other, alright?"

Kiba smirked, "You're sounding like my mom right now. Just go already. Kick some ass, alright?"

"Finish this mission for us," Neji nodded at him.

"Don't fail," Gaara added.

Ino separated from Naruto, supporting herself with the aid of a tree. She gave him a smile, wishing him the best, "You can do this."

Naruto nodded at his team before running up the nearest tree. Once he got to the tree branch he kicked off of it and began to make his way to the Valley of the End. Sunlight shone behind him as he jumped through the forest, his eyes showing nothing but determination. He would put an end to this mission once and for all.

**Ch. 45 End**

**This was probably one of the shortest chapters I've written on this story but it seemed like a good place to stop it since I didn't want to stop in the middle of a fight again. I will try to get the next chapter out sooner as a sorry for taking so long to update.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	46. The Copy Ninja Arrives!

**Here's the next one. This was a lot easier to write and for those of you wondering, this story will end at Ch.50. The sequel will begin soon after so don't worry. **

**Before we begin: The beginning of this chapter starts right after Kiba and Neji finished their fights. Since I didn't want to put paragraphs of italics I just left it on the usual but keep in mind that it's a kind of flashback.**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch.46 The Copy Ninja Arrives!**

Kakashi ran through the woods at a fast pace. His clone had dispelled after making it to the village's gate and left Choji with two ninja that had been standing guard. The state he had been in only helped to worry him even more about the team sent to retrieve Sasuke. He didn't know who was in it but if Choji had been part of it, then he assumed that they would be Genin.

"There's someone nearby," Pakkun suddenly spoke. Kakashi turned his attention to his summon, watching him sniff about in the air before turning to him once more, "There's two of them."

Kakashi nodded to himself before he and his summon made it into a clearing. There were webs around the trees and parts of the ground had been dug up, clearly a jutsu, Kakashi's trained eye easily noted. He heard movement to his right and turned to see Kiba helping a hurt Shino to his feet.

"You've got things under control here, I see," Kakashi deadpanned. His presence seemed to alarm Kiba as he quickly turned to him with his right hand reaching for a kunai. The Inuzuka relaxed once he took in the appearance of Kakashi, "What happened in here?"

"Shino fought some Sound ninja with freakish arms," Kiba explained with a scowl on his face, "I manage to get here on time to help Shino out. But he pretty much took him down by himself."

"I see…" Kakashi muttered as he glanced at the bug-user. It was difficult to see due to the glasses he wore but he seemed to be unconscious. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," a single clone appeared at his side, walking over to Kiba and slinging Shino over its shoulder. Kakashi gave the clone a nod before speaking, "Take him back to the Leaf."

The clone left without a word, jumping through the trees on the wooded area. Once they were gone Kiba gave the Jounin a look of confusion, "What do we do now?"

"We'll keep going forward," Kakashi replied as he turned to his summon, "Are there any others nearby Pakkun?"

The summon sniffed the air before nodding to the two ninja. "There's two more battles up ahead but I smell a lot of smoke from one of them."

"Let's go to that one then," Kakashi nodded to his summon before turning to Kiba, "Let's get going."

* * *

Kakashi, Kiba and Pakkun sped through the woods with Kiba wondering how the small summon could run so fast.

"We're getting closer," Pakkun announced as they came upon changed scenery.

"What the hell happened here?" Kiba wondered out loud, looking over the area. There were many craters on the ground, apparently from explosions, which were filled with pieces of wood and some branches from the nearby broken trees.

"Over here!" they heard a voice from deeper in the area.

Kakashi turned to Kiba and gave him a nod, "I'll lead."

They walked through the debris before finally running into Neji, the latter looking a bit tired. Next to him, tied to a tree, was a Sound kunoichi with red hair.

"I managed to knock her unconscious but don't know what to do with her," Neji explained, "I thought of just leaving her here but she might escape if left unattended."

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi waved him off before making a single clone. "The clone will take her to the Leaf while we-"

"Kakashi!" Pakkun suddenly exclaimed, a look of alarm on his face. "There's a heavy scent of blood coming from deeper in the woods. We have to move quickly!"

"Is there anybody else nearby?

Pakkun inhaled once more before nodding, "Yeah, it's coming from the opposite direction. I can smell Naruto there."

"Good," Kakashi turned to the two Genin, "You two go up ahead and help Naruto. I'll be going to help whoever just got hurt. Understood?"

"Understood/You got it," Neji and Kiba spoke simultaneously.

"Lead the way Pakkun," Kakashi ordered as the two ran from the area at their top speed, shocking the two Genin that were left behind.

* * *

Jugo stood over the fallen Lee with a smirk on his face. The malevolent chakra was still running through his system as he brought his fist back. This would be the blow to end the life of the trash that had dared get on his way.

"Now die!" he laughed as he brought his fist down on the Genin, missing the quiet sound of chirping birds.

As his fist descended upon the helpless ninja, he was suddenly struck by a wave of pain coming from his stomach. Blood splattered out of his mouth as he looked down to see a lightening-filled hand sticking out of the right side of his stomach.

A single sharingan glared at Jugo before he was tossed aside by a powerful punch. The Sound ninja crashed against a tree just as Kakashi ran through hand signs. "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Jutsu!"

Earth erupted in front of Kakashi before taking the form of a dragon, and shooting at the Sound ninja. Kakashi watched as his jutsu crashed against the ground, breaking a few trees in its vicinity.

With the enemy ninja down he let out a short breath before turning to the fallen Lee. "What did he do to you?" he muttered as he looked at the gaping hole on his right side. He wasted no time in making a clone and having it lift Lee up carefully, "Take him to the Leaf as fast as you can. Don't stop at the gate, head straight for the hospital."

The clone nodded before leaving the area. Kakashi turned to Pakkun, shielding his sharingan once more, "Let's go help out the others."

Kakashi let out another breath, feeling a bit worn down. He silently scolded himself for ignoring his training and losing his old stamina. Using such jutsu in a row or running a few miles with chakra running through his legs had probably helped in wearing him down but he knew that, had he been on his best, such a thing wouldn't have fazed him.

Just as he took a step forward he heard the sound of laughter coming from behind him. Kakashi turned around just as a wave of purple chakra filled the area, kicking up clouds of dust and breaking a few branches from nearby trees.

"What the…" Kakashi muttered in disbelief as the chakra died down to reveal Jugo with a crazed smirk on his face. The wound on his stomach was no more, in fact, he seemed to have only gotten stronger.

"This is fun," he chuckled before breaking into a laughing fit, "This is FUN!"

More chakra flared around him before his eyes set on Kakashi. The Jonin took his taijutsu stance and uncovered his sharingan, it seemed as if he would be needing it for this fight. "Go ahead and leave for now Pakkun…" he muttered as the summon left in a cloud of smoke.

Jugo smirked before the appendages on his back flared as he broke into a run. Kakashi's eyes widened as the Sound ninja appeared before him only seconds later. Thanks to his sharingan, he saw the incoming strike and quickly knocked the punch aside with his left hand. He threw a punch with the other, making contact with Jugo's chest, though having little effect.

'_What the hell is he?' _Kakashi thought in alarm before receiving a bone-crushing blow to his right ribcage. He grit his teeth in pain before planting his feet on the ground. Chakra gathered around his left fist as he threw an uppercut at Jugo, making contact with his jaw.

Jugo's mouth snapped shut with a cracking sound before he was thrown through the air. Kakashi was quick to run through hand signs before taking aim, "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Jugo watched as a dragon made of water neared him as he sailed through the air. He snarled before twisting his body in order to face the attack. His right arm formed into a type of shield before he put it in front of him, the powerful jutsu crashing against it.

The Sound ninja let out a few grunts at the force against his arm but managed to hold out long enough for it to end. His arm ached in pain as he landed on a nearby tree, all the while keeping a glare on the copy ninja.

"I'm going to kill you!" Jugo yelled in pure anger, more chakra flaring around him, "I will kill you!"

Kakashi kept his ground as chakra flared around the Sound ninja. It was true that the Sound ninja had a lot more chakra than him but he was too easy to predict. He let his emotions guide him and for that he was left with several openings that he could easily exploit. Overall, in the long run he would end up as the victor.

'_But time is something I can't just waste,' _he concluded as he gathered chakra on his right arm, only this time using more than normal, _'I'll end this with this jutsu.'_

* * *

"Fang over Fang!"

Kiba and Akamaru shot at Kimimaro as two spinning blurs. The Sound ninja quickly placed both hands on the ground making a set of large bone spikes rip through the ground in front of the Inuzuka. Kiba came to a halt, with Akamaru doing the same, before they could crash into the large pieces of bone.

Kimimaro, sensing movement to his right, turned to see a large wave of sand coming his way. With a frown he jumped away from the incoming sand before pointing a hand at where Gaara stood. Just as pieces of bone gathered on his fingertips, Neji jumped in front of him with his byakuugan active.

"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Neji exclaimed as his jutsu came to life, blocking the incoming bone fragments. He came to a stop as soon as Kimimaro's attack ended, slipping into his taijutsu stance in order to be ready for whatever was thrown at him.

The Sound ninja glared at his opponents before feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him. His eyes narrowed as he put a hand to his head, the world around him swaying from right to left. He took a step forward only to have the world around him spin around him.

'_Genjutsu,' _he concluded as he began to alter his chakra flow. No sooner than he did, he was met with a large wave of sand. He could do nothing as the sand enveloped him in a tight grip that only grew tighter around his whole body.

Gaara watched with a bit of hope as his sand began to crush the enemy ninja. Kiba and Neji stood next to him, both with anxious looks on their faces. Ino stood against a tree with a few beads of sweat rolling down her face. Her genjutsu had helped in catching Kimimaro off-guard but she knew better than to underestimate the Sound ninja and, judging by the sudden flare of chakra, he was already breaking out of Gaara's grip.

Much to the shock of Gaara, spikes began to cut through his sand. He tried to keep his grip on the Sound ninja until a large number of spikes finally broke through the sand to reveal a furious Kimimaro. "I've had enough," he growled before placing both hands on the ground, "You all die now!"

Large pieces of bone began to cut through the ground, emerging from random spots around the group. Neji and Kiba were forced to move through the area as to avoid being caught by the spikes. Meanwhile Io was forced to climb up the tree she had been supporting herself on, ignoring the pain shooting through her ankle at the lightest of movements.

Gaara was quick to think and made a cloud of sand to stand on in mid-air. Once safe, he quickly made more clouds of sand for the others. "Get on them," was his simple instruction as the clouds neared his allies. Neji and Kiba jumped in the air and safely made it to one of the clouds of sand while Ino dropped from the tree to land on a nearby cloud of sand.

Gaara proceeded to gathered the clouds of sand next to his. The result was a large cloud of sand that kept them a safe distance away from the spikes ripping through the ground. Also, if they were together there was less chance of them being caught off-guard.

Ino sat on the cloud of sand with a frown on her face. The whole area around them had been filled with large spikes made of bone and Kimimaro was nowhere to be found. He just seemed to disappear out of thin air and it made her edgy.

"Where did he go?" Kiba voiced his concerns with a frown on his face. More spikes were filling the area as he spoke.

Neji's byakuugan scanned the area before he turned to the others with a frown on his face. "There's traces of chakra on each spike," he spoke, "There's a larger source of chakra but it's moving through the spikes at random. I have no idea what this means."

"Maybe he's beneath the ground," Ino proposed with her eyes on the spike-filled ground beneath them.

Neji focused his gaze on the ground but found no sign of him actually moving through it. He only found the whole area filled with those weird bones, it was almost as if... His eyes widened in realization, quickly turning to Gaara in alarm, "He's moving through the spikes!"

No sooner than he said that, Kimimaro appeared behind Kiba with a large spike replacing his arm, almost like a lance. Kiba's eyes widened in shock before the lance tore through his left side, blood splattering out of the wound. The sound ninja withdrew his lance as the Inuzuka began to scream in agony, clutching his side while squirming on the sand.

Kimimaro turned his attention to Neji but received a shot of water before he could get close. Ino's eyes were narrowed as she ran through hand signs once more, "Water Style: Liquid Bullets!" Shots of water moved towards Kimimaro before he disappeared into another spike.

"We have to get Kiba help!" Neji exclaimed as he held Kiba down on the cloud of sand, the latter still screaming in pain.

"I know a little medical jutsu. Bring him over here," Ino ordered with a hardened gaze. Neji quickly picked Kiba up before laying him down next to Ino. Her hands glowed with green chakra as she looked over the wound, finding it to be too deep for her to heal completely. Slowing down the bleeding was all she could manage. They would need to take him to a hospital.

"We have to take him to a hospital," Ino informed the two other ninja, "I was only able to slow down the bleeding but his condition will only get worse if he's not taken care of properly."

Neji nodded in understanding, "Then we'll have to take care of the Sound ninja quickly." His byakuugan scanned the area once more, "Now that we know how he moves I think I'll be able to see him coming before he gets too close."

"Good," Gaara responded with his arms closed. Sand gathered around him before a sudden wave of vile chakra washed over the area. His features began to mend with the sand, half of his face covered by it and a tail forming on his lower back, "I don't know how long I'll be able to keep in control but I'll try to take kill him before I lose myself."

"I'll be your eyes then," Neji stated as he slipped into his taijutsu stance before addressing Ino, "Make sure nothing gets to Kiba."

Ino nodded, "No problem."

* * *

Kakashi's right arm filled with lightening as the sound of chirping became louder and louder. Jugo, watching as Kakashi prepared his attack, gathered chakra on his arm as it began to change shape. It took the shape of a canon with chakra burning within it.

Jugo pointed his arm at Kakashi as the chakra burned inside his arm. He prepared to fire but a sudden memory flashed through the little rationality he had left.

'_Remember,' _Kimimaro had said before the start of their mission, _'You are the most important member of this team. If you're ever faced with someone too strong, you are to leave immediately.'_

The dark marks around Jugo's face began to lessen as he struggled to regain control. He couldn't let Kimimaro down. Jugo's train of thought was broken when Kakashi broke into a run with the jutsu on his right arm.

Jugo knew that he couldn't take another one of those attacks without sustaining massive damage. He quickly pointed his arm at the ground in front of Kakashi, knowing that the blast wouldn't take him down but could be a good distraction. With a yell the blast of chakra shot out of his arm, heading straight for the copy ninja.

Kakashi's eyes widened as the large blast of chakra struck the ground before him. The result was a powerful explosion that forced him to come to a complete stop before running through hand signs. "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" he exclaimed as a large wall of earth rose in front of him, covering him from the debris heading his way. The wind grew violent as Kakashi shielded himself from the blast, _'Just how strong was that blast?'_

The wall came down as soon as the force of the blast was gone. Kakashi frowned from underneath his mask once he noticed that Jugo was no longer around. "I shouldn't have let my eyes off of him…" he muttered before running through hand signs and slamming both hands on the ground, "Summoning Jutsu."

Pakkun appeared before Kakashi once more, clearly expecting being summoned again, "Did you finish that ninja off yet."

"Not yet," Kakashi responded, "I need you to find his scent and tell me where he's going."

Pakkun sniffed at the air before jumping up a near tree branch, "He's moving towards where those Genin were heading. We'll be able to catch up soon."

"Let's get moving then," Kakashi replied as the two broke into a run. Thoughts of Jugo's transformation racing through his mind as he ran through the trees. It was similar to Sasuke's Curse Mark but he hadn't seen or sensed a Curse Mark on the ninja he had just fought.

If it was some kind of bloodline then they would be closer to finally finding a way to get rid of those marks. With this is mind, Kakashi quickened his pace. If he was able to capture Jugo then the Curse Marks wouldn't be a problem anymore and his student would hopefully go back to normal.

* * *

Naruto could see storm clouds in the distance, moving towards him. Judging by the quiet sound of running water in the distance he was getting closer to his destination. The Valley of the End. The place where he and Sasuke would finally put an end to their conflict. Where his mission would hopefully end.

The sound of running water grew louder as Naruto jumped up a tall tree and came to a stop. He could finally see the large waterfall adorned by the statues of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara. The storm clouds blocked the sun as he walked towards the waterfall, the darkness giving the place an eerie feeling.

Naruto looked around the area before finally seeing Sasuke standing on top of the Madara statue. He didn't need to see his face to know that there was a smirk on it, pleased with him playing his game. Naruto didn't like listening to Sasuke's request but it would be the best course of action for his mission and team.

The Chunin ran up the waterfall before finally kicking off of it and landing on top of the First Hokage's statue. His mouth formed into a frown as he looked at the Uchiha standing on the other statue. They were on equal ground, looking at each other in anticipation of what was to come.

"You finally got here Naruto," Sasuke smirked as his visible eye narrowed. "This is where I'll repay you for taking my eye. 'An eye for an eye,' is what they say, right?" he slipped into his taijutsu stance as the first droplets of water began to fall on the ground, "Let's see who's the strongest between you and me."

Naruto took his usual taijutsu stance. "I thought it was already decided that I was the stronger one," he taunted, earning a glare from the Uchiha, "I don't have time for your pissing contest so please excuse me for making this quick."

The rain fell harder against the ground as the two ninja jumped at each other, both carrying their own beliefs and walking different paths. This single fight would determine the future of the path they walked.

**Ch. 46 End**

**Sorry to leave you guys with a huge cliffhanger but I think you'll be glad to know that the next chapter will have Naruto and Sasuke finally fighting it out. I can't wait to write the fight so the next chapter might come out soon since I can barely keep myself from writing it right now. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	47. Final Battle! Naruto vs Sasuke!

**Hey, new chapter today guys. Since this is almost the end I've decided to release the next chapter later today or tomorrow at the latest so watch out for the update.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path **

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 47 Final Battle! Naruto vs. Sasuke!**

Naruto and Sasuke jumped at each other, the waterfall roaring from beneath them. Naruto threw a left hook as soon as he was close enough but Sasuke was quick to raise his right arm to meet the blow. The two glared at each other before gravity pulled them both down.

The two ninja fell down the waterfall but didn't let up. Sasuke punched at Naruto's face but met only an open palm. Eyes widening, the Uchiha was pulled towards Naruto before receiving a hard punch to his face. His head was snapped to the side before the blond proceeded to knee the Uchiha on the stomach.

Sasuke doubled over in pain with an audible gasp, leaving himself wide open. Naruto held his hands together before bringing them down on Sasuke's exposed back. The Uchiha was drilled into the water with a large splash while Naruto landed safely on the water.

Naruto kept his gaze on the water, waiting for his once teammate to resurface. He scowled when not seeing the Uchiha resurface yet. Sasuke, even under the influence of the Curse Mark, was a strategist and giving him time to think was a big mistake.

The Uchiha jumped out of the water just behind Naruto. The blond quickly stopped the flow of chakra on his feet, instantly dropping into the water just as Sasuke punched at the area where he had just been standing. Naruto took hold of Sasuke's feet before pulling him into the water as well.

The Chunin quickly threw a punch at the Uchiha, meeting his chest in a hard blow. Sasuke let out a silent groan before raising his right leg and digging it into Naruto's stomach.

Naruto's breath left him and was quickly replaced by the water he was in. His heartbeat rose as he tried to swim out to regain his breath but felt a pair of hands take hold of his right leg. The blond swallowed more water as desperation kicked in.

He kicked at the Uchiha but the latter simply gripped his other leg with his right hand. Now without the aid of his legs and almost no air on his lungs, Naruto began to panic, failing wildly in an attempt to get out of the hold.

'_Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Think you idiot!' _Naruto screamed in his head. His mouth closed shut as he quickly ran through hand signs. _'Summoning Jutsu!'_

Sasuke kept his grip on Naruto before a large cloud of smoke formed beneath them. His brows furrowed before he was pushed out of the water by a large figure.

The water built up on the bottom of the waterfall shot out of its resting place as a large summoning toad emerged from it, standing on the water with its arms crossed. Naruto rested on top of the toad's head, coughing violently and gripping his chest in pain.

The Uchiha managed to land on the water without a problem but kept his gaze on the newly arrived summon. He had never fought a summon before but he figured that this particular summon, a large red toad with a katana strapped to its back, wouldn't pose that much of a threat. Since it was big he figured that it would be slow.

"Why did you summon me, boy?" the toad asked the ninja on top of its head.

Naruto coughed up water before glancing down at the toad. "S-sorry…" he managed before looking over at Sasuke, "I was… I was desperate. You can leave now."

The toad was quick to leave in a cloud of smoke, obviously angry at being summoned like that. Naruto fell on the water on all-fours, still griping his chest in pain and trying to regain his composure.

"You look a bit shaken Naruto," Sasuke smirked, earning a heated glared from the blond, "It reminds me of our first mission out of the village. You had that same helpless expression on your face."

Naruto growled before running through hand signs, "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"

"Wind Style: Devastation!" Sasuke countered with the large gust of wind, engulfing the incoming blasts.

The Chunin frowned before running through more hand signs, "Wind Style: Devastation!"

The two gusts of wind met in the middle of the water, creating a powerful cyclone. Water splashed about as Naruto and Sasuke ran at each other once more with the wind howling around them.

A single sharingan came to life as the two ran at each other and Naruto instantly knew that he had to kick it up a notch. Using the momentum from his run, the blond leapt at Sasuke with his right fists held back. Sasuke leapt at the blond as well, cocking his left fist back.

The two ninja threw the punch at the same time. Naruto's right arm meeting Sasuke's face but receiving a punch to his face as well. Both let out groans of pain before jumping away from each other.

Sasuke broke into a smirk, ignoring the lingering pain on his jaw. "Now Naruto…" he muttered as black marks scattered around his face, burning a red color as they moved around his upper body. Purple chakra swirled around him as his uncovered eye closed, "I'll show you my true power."

The Uchiha's eye suddenly shot open upon hearing the sound of footsteps. A gasp involuntarily left his lips when seeing Naruto standing right before him. Before he could process what happened, Naruto's fist met the left side of his face in a powerful punch. Sasuke staggered backwards before receiving a kick to his stomach.

Naruto watched as Sasuke doubled over in pain with cold eyes, not wanting to drag the fight any longer. His jaw clenched as he delivered a kick to the Uchiha's face, flipping him backwards.

Sasuke landed on the water and began to sink before regaining his posture and using chakra to help himself stand. He grit his teeth in anger, looking at the dead-last standing in front of him, holding a calm look on his face.

"I'm done playing with you Sasuke," Naruto announced before charging at the Uchiha.

The sharingan couldn't follow his movement, much to Sasuke's anger. _'When did he get so fast?' _Sasuke wondered as he stood his ground, knowing that charging at Naruto would be a bad idea. _'Why can't I follow his movements!' _his eye stung a bit as he focused his gaze before finally being able to see Naruto's movements, now appearing slower.

Naruto kicked at Sasuke once close enough but, to his shock, the Uchiha caught his leg in a tight grip. He was then flung away but quickly regained his balance and landed safely on the water.

"It looks like I have the advantage Naruto," Sasuke spoke with an air of smugness. Naruto looked at him oddly, having no idea of what he was talking about, "My sharingan is finally able to follow your movements."

The Uchiha broke into a full charge, heading straight for Naruto while running through hand signs, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The powerful ball of fire shot at Naruto, who quickly used a single hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he exclaimed as a single clone appeared at his side. Without a word the doppelganger took hold of the original's extended right arm and flung him to the side, successfully dodging the powerful fire that engulfed the clone.

Naruto landed on the ground beneath the First Hokage's statue. _'Damn, now that he can read my movements I'll have to use a new strategy,' _he concluded before running up the statue and landing on its head. He saw Sasuke at the bottom of the waterfall, still not moving from his spot on the water.

Chakra gathered on the seal on his glove before Asuma's blade appeared on his right hand. Naruto gripped the blade tightly, knowing that its extended length would help on this fight. Sasuke could read his movements but he wouldn't be able to dodge the wind of his blade up close.

With that in mind, Naruto created two clones. He would need a distraction in order to get close before Sasuke could land any hits on him. Naruto jumped down the statue with the two clones falling into line behind him. As soon as their feet touched the water, all three of them charged at the enemy.

Sasuke ran at the three while taking out a kunai in response to Naruto's blade. His sharingan caught the movement of the clones with ease, both of them running ahead of the original. Thinking that it would be a simple charge, Sasuke threw the kunai at one of the clones, dispersing it upon contact. The remaining clone leapt at him but Sasuke was two steps ahead, already jumping towards him and diving under a punch before delivering an uppercut to the clone's chin.

The clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke, blocking Sasuke's view of the original Naruto. His single eye widened in realization, Naruto had planned to use the clone as a way to hide him from view. No sooner than he realized this, he was met by the sight of Naruto emerging from the smoke with the blade on hand.

His sharingan caught the trajectory of the blade and, to his horror, it was heading straight for his remaining eye. Sasuke, not wanting to go blind, quickly raised his left arm to block the blade.

Blood splattered out of Sasuke's arm, as Naruto's blade ran through it. He suddenly caught a shift on the Uchiha's right leg and quickly raised his left arm to cover the incoming knee. Naruto pushed off the knee before spinning in the air and delivering a harsh kick to Sasuke's head. The Uchiha let out a cry of pain as he sailed through the air before crashing on the water's edge.

Naruto stood on the water with a frown on his face, hoping that their fight was over as he stared at Sasuke's prone position.

Sasuke coughed lightly before pushing himself into a kneeling position. "You'll pay for that Naruto…" he growled as he began to stand, staggering a few feet backwards when doing so. The black marks on his body lit a bright red as dark purple chakra flared around him, closing the wound on his arm.

Naruto let out a short breath before gathering chakra on his blade. His eyes hardened on the Uchiha before breaking into a full charge against his opponent. Sasuke held his ground before running through hand signs.

"Wind Style: Devastation!" the Uchiha exclaimed as a powerful gust of wind shot at the charging Naruto.

Not expecting the jutsu, Naruto was blown away by the strong wind. He gritted his teeth as he sailed through the air before setting eyes on Sasuke once more, already running through more hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" a blast of fire shot at the blond, mixing with the still raging wind blowing against him.

"Shit…" Naruto muttered as the fireball grew closer. "Shadow Clone Jutsu," two clones appeared next to him, quickly taking hold of the air bone Naruto before flinging him away from the incoming fire jutsu.

The fire and wind met in a large explosion that silenced the roaring of the waterfall. Naruto was caught in the explosion and was sent spiraling towards the water.

Sasuke watched as Naruto crashed into the water with a large splash. The rain was falling harder against the ground with no intention of stopping. He turned to the water to see Naruto climbing out of it with his right sleeve missing, showing his slightly wounded arm.

"It looks like we're evenly matched," Sasuke spoke in a smug tone.

Naruto frowned. "Tell me why you want to leave the village so badly," he demanded, feeling a bit curious as to what exactly drove Sasuke to leave the village, "Are you sure the Curse Mark isn't making you do this?"

Sasuke shook his head with an amused smile on his face. "Don't you know already Naruto? I told you before. My whole purpose it to kill the man that murdered my clan. That's why I'll leave to get more power from Orochimaru," he explained, pointing a finger at his face, "Thanks to this power my sharingan has grown stronger. With the power of this 'curse' I can kill the bastard who took everything away from me."

"Didn't you already have this power when Itachi beat you in less than two seconds?" Naruto asked with a smirk. Sasuke glared at Naruto with the upmost fury, fists clenching in anger, "I'm taking you back to Konoha, Sasuke. I'll finish this mission once and for all."

* * *

Neji's byakuugan scanned the area rapidly, looking for the Sound ninja moving through the many spikes in the area while he stood in front of Kiba protectively. Ino kept watch of his wounds, slowing his bleeding as much as possible.

"Right there!" Neji exclaimed, pointing at a nearby spike.

Gaara quickly shot a wave of sand at the spike just as Kimimaro emerged from it. The Sound ninja was pushed through the air with Gaara moving after him. The jinchuuriki reached out with his right arm, the sand covering it shooting at the Sound ninja before encircling around him and covering his lower body.

Kimimaro let out a growl as the sand-covered arm held him in a tight grip. He was pulled towards the jinchuuriki before receiving a hard punch to his chest followed by a hard kick to his side. Gaara procceded to point his sand-covered arm at the Sound ninja as sand shot out of it, pushing Kimimaro through the air before knocking him against one of the spikes.

The Sound ninja dissolved into the spike as soon as he made contact, making Gaara curse as his eyes darted around the area before turning to the Hyuuga.

"Where did he go?" Gaara asked in a gruff voice.

Neji focused his gaze on the area below before turning to Gaara with a frown on his face, "He's in the spikes again, moving a lot quicker than before."

Gaara nodded, "I'll try to drive him out with my sand."

Neji's head suddenly snapped to the left, eyes narrowing in focus, "There's someone else coming this way."

The jinchuuriki's attention turned to the left, seeing a Sound ninja with orange hair jump out of the nearby trees and land in an area surrounded by spikes. The newly arrived enemy ninja looked around the area before Kimimaro emerged from one of the spikes.

"What are you doing here Jugo?" Kimimaro asked in a concerned voice.

"Another Konoha shinobi interrupted my fight. A Jonin this time," Jugo explained.

"I see…" Kimimaro muttered with his attention on the gathered ninja standing on top of the cloud of sand. He turned back to Jugo and gave a nod, "Escape while I take care of the remaining ninja."

The sound of chirping birds suddenly echoed through the area, everyone watching as Kakashi arrived with lightning around his right hand. "Chidori!" Kakashi exclaimed as his attack neared the distracted Jugo, but let out a short gasp when another spike of bone suddenly rose from the ground, taking the attack head and protecting Jugo from the deadly jutsu.

Kakashi's arm dug into the spike as Jugo and Kimimaro jumped away from him, landing on top of one of the larger spikes of bone. The copy ninja ripped his arm out of the spike before noticing the ninja standing on top of the cloud of sand.

"Over here Kakashi-sensei!" Ino called with a wave of her arm. Kakashi turned to the kunoichi, catching the alarm on her tone, before jumping up the cloud of sand.

He first noticed the bleeding Kiba and was instantly on his side, kneeling next to him, "What happened to him?"

"He was attacked by the Sound ninja with a lance made of bone," Ino explained in a worried tone, "I can't stop his bleeding. He doesn't have a chance unless he's taken to a hospital."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," Kakashi muttered as a single clone appeared next to him, quickly taking Kiba on his arms. "Take him to the hospital as soon as you can. Do not stop for anything," he ordered. The clone nodded before leaving in a fast speed, shooting through the trees at an incredible pace.

Gaara, seeing as they now had the aid of a Jonin, dropped the demonic chakra flowing through him. The sand gathered on his face dissolving into his gourd as he let out a short breath, feeling a bit worn down due to using it.

Kakashi cast an eye at Ino's ankle, seeing it a bit swollen. "Alright, Ino stay here and try to heal your wound. We might need you later on," he ordered before turning to the remaining ninja, "I'll attack the enemy first. I want you two to back me up."

Meanwhile Kimimaro analyzed the situation with a careful eye. Now that there was a Jonin on the fight taking them all down was out of the question. Fleeing along with Jugo was the best option for the moment.

"Things have changed. You and I will escape while I create a large diversion," Kimimaro informed while placing both hands on the ground, "Leave as soon as I cast my jutsu."

"Got it," Jugo nodded as he readied himself.

Kakashi jumped down the cloud of sand, landing on one of the spikes. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the flow of chakra on Kimimaro shift, meaning that he was about to cast a jutsu. He felt a wave of chakra move through the ground and quickly jumped high in the air, dodging several more of those spikes though this time they were a lot taller and rose a lot faster than before.

Neji's eyes widened as he turned to Gaara, "The spikes are too tall. They'll reach us if we don't move."

Gaara nodded as the cloud of sand broke into three parts and moved through the air, dodging the incoming spikes though barely. Ino held on to the sand as hard as she could since she had been in a sitting position and hadn't expected the sudden movement of the sand beneath her.

Kakashi moved through the spikes, his sharingan catching where they would be coming from. He ran up one of the spikes before kicking off of it, sailing through the air and landing on a tall spike. He took in his surroundings but found no sign of the two Sound ninja, in fact, all that he saw were the spikes ripping through the ground and filling the area.

The attack soon ended with the whole area being full of the spikes made of bone, nothing of the original area remaining. Gaara, Neji and Ino were being held in the air by the clouds of sand while Kakashi used chakra to keep himself in one of the spikes.

The copy ninja let out a curse before turning to the three ninja and came to a conclusion, "We'll let them escape this once."

"What?" Neji let out in disbelief, "But why? Shouldn't we just take care of them now?"

"No," Kakashi replied with a sigh, "Right now you three are too weak to fight. Besides since Naruto isn't here I take it he's up ahead, right? The two Sound ninja might be heading for him, for all we know."

"That makes sense," Gaara voiced his opinion with a nod.

Kakashi jumped to a near tree's branch before running through hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" he slammed both hands on the branch as Pakkun appeared before him, "Pakkun, I need you to take us to where Naruto is."

"Got it," Pakkun agreed before sniffing the air. He turned back to Kakashi before speaking, "Naruto's up ahead with your other student. It looks like they're fighting as we speak."

"Let's get going then," Kakashi announced before turning to the three shinobi, "I will be going up ahead. Neji, use your byakuugan to follow after me. I'll make sure I'm in your range."

With that the copy ninja began to move. Ino stood up shakily but managed to keep herself standing, feeling a bit of pain on her ankle though not that much anymore. Seeing as her two teammates for the mission were looking at her, she gave them a nod.

Neji's byakuugan kept sight of Kakashi as Gaara and Ino fell into step behind him. They weren't moving very fast but they would manage to get there in time, at least that's what they all hoped.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke clashed once more. The Chunin's blade intertwined with a kunai Sasuke held on his left hand. Naruto sent chakra to his blade and began to cut through the kunai before the Uchiha kicked at his stomach. Naruto quickly rose his knee, meeting the kick without trouble before swiping at the Uchiha's torso.

Sasuke leaned under the blade before delivering an uppercut to Naruto's chin. The blond's head snapped up before he twisted his body to the left while throwing a kick, making contact with the Uchiha's face. He used the momentum to flip in the air and manage a crouching position when landing on the water before kicking off of it and heading straight for Sasuke once more.

The Uchiha, recovering from the kick, wasn't able to block the punch to his stomach before receiving a knee to the face. Blood splattered out of his nose before he jumped away from Naruto, nursing his aching nose.

"I'm done with this Naruto!" Sasuke yelled in anger. Chakra flared around him as the water beneath his feet began to move violently. The marks around his face began to connect and turn his skin a lot darker as more chakra encircled him.

"Damn…" Naruto growled as he watched Sasuke's hair began to grow. He had no idea that Sasuke could transform like the other Sound ninja and judging by the flaring chakra around him, he wasn't any weaker than them.

A large black mark appeared in the bridge of Sasuke's nose as the chakra turned a darker purple. Finally two wings sprouted from his back, looking more like hands than they did wings. Sasuke let out a hiss before setting his eye on Naruto.

"Now Naruto," Sasuke spoke with a smirk on his face. The wings on his back stretching as he bent his knees slightly, "I'll finish you!"

Sasuke shot at Naruto at top speed with his right arm held back. The Chunin gathered chakra on his blade as he prepared to meet the blow but, to his shock, Sasuke's speed suddenly increased drastically.

Naruto's eyes widened as he received a bone-crushing punch to his stomach. Blood and saliva splattered out of his mouth as he let out a gasp for air. Sasuke followed with a punch to his right ribcage, cracking some bones upon contact before sending him through the air.

Naruto crashed painfully against the ground. His eyes shut closed as he struggled to keep himself from throwing up. Sasuke had held nothing back on his attack and he could certainly feel it. He managed a standing position through shaky legs, putting a hand to his stomach.

It looked like things had just gone from bad to worse.

**Ch. 47 End**

**Remember to check for the new update soon.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any. **


	48. My Ninja Way!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 48 My Ninja Way!**

Naruto let out a hiss of pain as he clutched his stomach. A few beads of sweat trailed down his face, mixing with the blood trailing down his mouth and onto his chin. His right arm, now sleeveless, was full of scratches and a few open cuts though nothing major.

A frown etched on his face as he looked over Sasuke's condition. Much to his misfortune, he looked completely fine. The wounds he had inflicted were now closed thanks to the Curse Seal, not to mention the large gap it had put between their power.

"You look a bit worried Naruto," Sasuke mocked, noticing the frown on the Chunin. The Uchiha felt powerful, invincible, nothing could stop him on his current condition. It was euphoric. Like a drug coursing through his body.

Naruto drew in a breath before slipping into his new taijutsu stance, the one Anko had drilled into his brain by making him go through all kinds of dangerous exercises. His eyes narrowed on the enemy as the grip on his blade tightened, wind coursing through it as he pondered on his next move.

He was facing a much stronger Sasuke, one that could pose any non-senior Chunin. The fact that he had just come from a fight with Kimimaro and lost some chakra didn't make things any easier. The only way to beat Sasuke would be to come up with a good plan. Finish him in one shot.

'_The only problem is that I don't know how to catch him off guard,' _Naruto frowned as he took a step forward. _'Man, who cares anymore. I'll just attack until something comes to mind,' _he concluded before breaking into a run.

Sasuke held his ground as Naruto approached. His sharingan could read everything Naruto could come up which left him in no real danger.

Naruto kicked off the water before throwing a punch with his right hand. Sasuke caught the fist with his left hand but the blond used his other hand to push his right arm downwards, getting out of the hold the Uchiha had on him.

The Chunin planted both feet on the water before throwing his body upwards, his head making contact with Sasuke's face. The Uchiha let out a grunt before staggering backwards, giving Naruto enough time to land a punch on his chest though it had no effect as Sasuke simply took the hit before the wings on his back wrapped around the blond.

Naruto cursed as the two arm-like wings picked him up and held him tightly in front of Sasuke, his eyes meeting a single sharingan. His eyes quickly snapped shut, knowing that looking into a sharingan was a very bad idea, before gasping in pain. The grip on his body tightened, his whole body shooting with waves of pain. He gritted his teeth in pain as he focused his chakra.

"You lose Naruto," Sasuke smirked before a wave of pain shot through one of his wings. His single eye widened as blood splattered out of his left wing, wind chakra ripping through it with ease. He cursed himself for having forgotten about Naruto's ability to lengthen the size of his blade and quickly withdrew his hold on the blond.

Wind encircled Naruto's right arm as his blue eyes snapped open in a glare. "Wind Style!" he began as the wind began to swirl violently around his arm, drawing a few drops of blood.

Sasuke had no idea what the new jutsu was and quickly put both wings in front of him as a shield. Whatever Naruto had up his sleeve, he would counter.

"Drilling Fist!" Naruto let out as he drove his fist into Sasuke's wings. His arm shook violently as his arm began to rip through the two wings, gusts of air shooting in all directions as his arm dug deeper and deeper.

The Uchiha let out a cry of pain before dropping the chakra on his feet, instantly falling into the water and narrowly escaping Naruto's jutsu. The Chunin grit his teeth in anger as his jutsu dropped, blood running down his arm due to the cutting wind that had gathered around it.

Naruto quickly jumped away from the area, not wanting a repeat of what had happened underwater before. Not long after, Sasuke crawled out of the water with a gaping hole on his left wing while the other was stained with blood.

The Uchiha glared as he ran through hand sings before putting a hand to his mouth. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" a giant ball of fire left the Uchiha's lips, heading straight for the hurt Naruto.

The Chunin quickly ran through hand signs, ignoring the pain shooting through his right arm, before putting a hand to his lips. "Wind Style: Devastation!" he exclaimed as a powerful gust of wind left his mouth.

The two attacks met with the fire overtaking the wind in a powerful explosion that rocked the area. Naruto, taking the worst of the attack, was hurled through the air as the explosion's shockwave kicked up large clouds of dust and water alike. Too hurt to do much else, Naruto sailed through the air before crashing into a heavily wooded area that shielded him from view.

Sasuke kept his feet planted on the ground as the powerful blast finally ended. A frown appeared on his face when seeing no sign of his old teammate. He scanned the area, watching as chunks of rock dropped from the waterfall and into the water around him. He scoffed before kicking off the area and landing on the ground next to the First Hokage's statue, seeing as Naruto had apparently landed near there.

"Come out coward!" Sasuke yelled impatiently. He wanted to keep on fighting, testing his powers, "Don't tell me you're done already!"

He snarled before taking a step forward, ready to look for Naruto himself before catching movement with his sharingan. He turned his head upwards, a gasp escaping his lips when seeing countless of kunai shooting through the air and heading right for his direction.

Sasuke scoffed before using both of his wings as a shield once more, his right wing in front of the left as to not let any kunai pass through the hole on his left wing. The kunai began fall on the area around him, some impacting against his wings but not managing to penetrate them. He kept his wings in place as more and more kunai fell from the sky, merging with the rhythm of the rain.

After a few more moments the rain of kunai finally ended. Sasuke retracted his wings, stretching them behind him as he scanned the area. Countless of kunai lay on the ground around him, but still no sign of Naruto. He frowned before hearing the sound of moving footsteps.

Sasuke turned to the heavily wooded area to see Naruto come out of the trees with his blade on hand. Blood trailed down his face and right arm as he charged at him but he didn't seem to mind as he quickened his pace.

The Uchiha scoffed, knowing that a mindless charge would do nothing to him. He ran at Naruto and prepared to throw a punch but, to his surprise, the blond suddenly vanished in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke stopped dead on his tracks before Naruto appeared behind him with his left fist held back.

"What?" Sasuke managed before Naruto's fist impacted against his back. The Uchiha grunted in pain before turning to the blond only to have him disappear once more.

Naruto appeared behind Sasuke once more, this time delivering a kick to the area between his wings before vanishing once more. The Uchiha staggered forward, hissing in pain before turning on his heel but, again, found no sign of the blond.

"What the hell is going on?" Sasuke yelled in anger.

"Just because you're stronger, doesn't mean you'll win!" Naruto yelled as he ran at Sasuke head on. He kept on charging before vanishing in a cloud of smoke, taking Sasuke by surprise. "I'll never give up. That's my ninja way!" he yelled as he appeared behind the Uchiha and cut through the base of his left wing with his blade.

The Uchiha let out a bloodied scream as blood splattered out of his back, the wing falling limply on the ground behind him. His hands shook before seeing Naruto appear before him with his left fist cocked back. Sasuke could only watch as the blond's fist dug into his stomach before he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

'_What the fuck is this?' _Sasuke wondered as he gasped in pain, receiving another punch from Naruto before disappearing. _'How is he moving so fast? Is he teleporting?' _he received another punch, this time to his face before the blond disappeared once more.

Sasuke's head snapped to the side to see Naruto running at him from his left. The Uchiha quickly turned to the charging ninja but he suddenly vanished in a cloud of smoke once more. Pain shot through his back, another punch from the attacking Naruto before leaving in a cloud of smoke.

The Uchiha looked around for any sign of Naruto or a clue as to how he seemed to teleport around him. Sasuke used his sharingan to look for movement before realization struck his features. He looked at the ground, and finally arrived to a conclusion, those were no kunai.

Naruto appeared before him again, this time pointing a finger at Sasuke with a smirk on his face. "Attack!" he yelled as the kunai around him dropped their henge, revealing themselves to be clones. The army of clones charged at Sasuke from all sides, the Uchiha quickly jumping high in the air before running through hand sings and aiming at the ground.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

An enormous blast of fire shot at the ground, engulfing the charging clones with ease, leaving nothing but smoke on the area. Sasuke let out a few pants and he landed on the feet of the Madara statue, the area around him now free of any clones. He watched as Naruto landed on the feet of the First Hokage's statue with a focused gaze on his face.

"You'll pay for that…" Sasuke growled before focusing charka on his right hand. "This will put an end to all of our fights! We settle everything here Naruto!" he announced as the chirping of his jutsu began, lightning forming on his hand, "Chidori!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he gathered charka on his right hand. "Let's end this then," the chakra on his right hand began to take shape. Spinning on his open palm and glowing a blue color, "Rasengan."

The two glared at each other before kicking off the ground at the same time.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled in rage as he neared the blond Chunin.

The jutsu on Naruto's hand dropped as he pulled a kunai out of his vest. He flicked his left wrist, sending the kunai through the air before Sasuke's hand stabbed through his chest.

Sasuke watched in glee as his attack ripped through Naruto's chest, life leaving his eyes before a smirk formed on his face. Sasuke's single eye widened as 'Naruto' burst in a cloud of smoke. He quickly turned his attention to the kunai the clone had thrown, watching as it transformed into the real Naruto holding a compressed orb of wind on his right hand.

The Uchiha, not being able to stop his momentum, could do nothing as Naruto dove towards his exposed back with his right arm extended.

"Wind Style: Spiraling Wind Ball!" Naruto yelled as his attack dove into Sasuke's back, cracking some bones upon contact.

Sasuke coughed up blood, the Curse Seal leaving his body, before being shot at the water beneath them, falling unconscious before hitting the water.

Naruto's eyelids grew heavy as he descended upon the water with his arm still outstretched. Having lost most of his chakra with the massive use of clones he had close to no chakra coursing through his body, not to mention the savage beating he had taken. He simply smiled wearily before falling into the water, somehow knowing that his mission was over.

* * *

Tsunade sat behind her desk going over a pile of paperwork. The Third Hokage had told her that she should get used to doing paperwork since it was one of the things she would be doing daily for as long as she remained Hokage. She read over the papers but seemed distracted, her mind clearly elsewhere.

The team sent on the retrieval of Sasuke Uchiha was taking too long. She was beginning to worry since the team had been picked in less than an hour, by a fresh Chunin no less, on a mission that they knew nothing about.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune suddenly entered the room with panic on her features, "We need you at the hospital!"

Tsunade was instantly on her feet, knowing that if Shizune asked for her then there was a big emergency. "Let's go, tell me what happened on the way," Tsunade ordered as the two left her office.

* * *

"So, the Uzumaki won…" a masked shinobi muttered, hidden among the trees in the area. The shinobi watched as the two ninja fell limply in the water before quickly breaking into a run.

A group of ninja was on the way so the job had to be done before any of them could get there. Retrieving the boy would be easy, covering their tracks would be the challenging part since the copy ninja, Kakashi, would be the one tracking them.

The masked ninja kneeled on the water before taking hold of the boy his leader had asked for. The young ninja was slung over the shinobi's shoulder before the two of them disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

* * *

Kakashi and Pakkun were first to arrive to the Valley of the End, finding it to be in bad condition. There were broken trees, pieces of rock scattered around the area, and the two statues having some parts missing.

"Over there!" Pakkun exclaimed, motioning for the body floating on the water.

Kakashi quickly ran up to the floating ninja fearing the worst but, upon getting closer, noticed that his eyes were open. He couldn't help but sigh in relief as he walked over to the shinobi gazing at the sky, the rain now falling lightly against the ground and a bit of sunlight peeking through the clouds.

"Looks like you had a rough fight…" Kakashi began, looking through his student's wounds. His right arm was broken and bloodied, his blond hair was stained with blood and his body trembled lightly. The copy ninja pulled the young shinobi out of the water, setting him lightly on the ground, "You'll be alright Naruto."

Naruto let out a shaky breath, his eyes beginning to close on their own but he couldn't fall unconscious. Not yet.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto muttered through gasps for breath.

Kakashi turned to his student with a hint of worry, "Don't talk Naruto. Just rest for now, your team will get here soon."

Naruto shook his head slowly as he looked at his teacher with a worn down expression. "S-someone took him…" he muttered, gaining the attention of the copy ninja. Naruto took in a breath before speaking once more, "A masked ninja… he took Sasuke right after I beat him."

"Already on it," Pakkun spoke just as Kakashi turned to him. The summon sniffed the air before shaking his head, "Naruto's right. Someone else was here but they covered their scents not too far from here. The rain washing everything away doesn't make things much better."

"I guess there'll be no point in looking around," Kakashi sighed out before turning back to his student, finding him already unconscious. He frowned from beneath his mask before addressing his summon once more, "You can go rest now Pakkun, this mission is over."

"I'll see you later then," Pakkun nodded before leaving in a cloud of smoke.

"They're up ahead!"

Kakashi heard from the distance. He turned on his heel to see Neji, Gaara and Ino land in front of him.

"Naruto!" Ino exclaimed in worry, seeing his bloodied unconscious form upon arriving. She quickly ran to his side and worked on his wounds, quickly closing what she could and trying to ease his pain.

"We have to get him back to the village," Kakashi said as he made a single clone.

"What of the Uchiha?" Gaara spoke as the clone walked to the unconscious blond and gently picked him up.

"He was apparently taken by a masked ninja," Kakashi informed, "From what I gather. Naruto beat Sasuke but was too tired to prevent the unknown shinobi from taking him. We'll just have to ask him what exactly happened once he wakes up."

Neji activated his byakuugan but found nothing. He turned back to the Jonin, "What should we do now?"

"Let's go back to the village for now," Kakashi ordered as he watched his clone leave the area with Ino falling into step behind it, "There's nothing else for us to do here."

With that the 'Sasuke Retrieval' team left the area. A bittersweet feeling remained as they moved through the trees. They hadn't retrieved the Uchiha but had managed to come out alive from one of the most dangerous situations of their lives. It had been a small victory in a greater loss but at least they were all okay.

**Ch. 48 End**

**And that's that. I know that this chapter was a bit shorter than the last but, come on, I gave you the quickest update in a while. Anyway, the next two chapters will tie the loose ends and conclude this arc.**

**IMPORTANT: There's a poll on my profile on what the sequel's name should be. It will be closed once this story is over, which should hopefully be in less than two weeks. So make sure to vote.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you have any.**


	49. A Training Trip?

**Alright here's the next one. **

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 49 A Training Trip?**

Tsunade sat behind her desk with a tired look on her face. The sun was rising outside, meaning that she had been working all night. She hadn't worked so hard in a long time and it left her exhausted. Thankfully all she needed to do now was go through the final pile of papers and run a quick check-up on Lee since he was still in critical condition.

She could still remember how the hospital had been the previous day. Some of the younger medics had panicked when seeing the severe condition in which some of the ninja from Naruto's team had arrived. She, being the example, took full control of the severe cases while keeping an eye on the others every once in a while.

The whole fiasco had ended late at night with the group of shinobi still breathing. A wave of pride washed over her being as she thought back at Kiba's condition. He had been in bad shape, no doubt about that, but it had been thanks to Ino that he didn't get worse. Her student was getting there and with a bit more of training she would turn into a good medic, it was a shame that she appeared to be more of the fighting type.

"You're spacing out a lot," she heard a masculine voice speak. Tsunade whirled her head to the side to see Jiraiya leaning over her shoulder with a perverted smile. She growled before elbowing the toad sage on the stomach.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked as she rose from her chair in favor of leaning against one of the windows of her office.

Jiraiya, clutching his stomach, managed a grin, "Why, I came here to ask the great Hokage for a favor."

Thoughts of what Jiraiya's idea of a favor was raced through her mind before her eyes hardened and cautiously spoke, "What is it?"

"Oh come on Tsunade. I'm not that bad," he laughed, noticing the way her eyes had hardened. "I'm just here for a simple request," he explained further before pulling a scroll out of a pocket beneath his red cloak and tossing it to Tsunade, "I've already talked it over with the Third. I just need you to approve of it so we can get going."

Tsunade read over the contents of the scroll with a scowl on her face. Apparently they had planned to take Naruto on an extended training trip lasting three years. On this trip he would also receive missions to carry out and meet with Anko on certain times. During this time Anko would travel with Naruto alone while Jiraiya performed a few missions for the village to cover her absence. All in all, it benefited the village as well as Naruto. A well thought out trip but there was a small problem.

"What are you going to do about Ino? Those two are inseparable. They won't like the idea of being apart for so long," Tsunade informed.

"His little girlfriend?" Jiraiya asked nonchalantly, receiving a nod from Tsunade. "Don't worry about it. They might not like it but I'm sure that they'll do what's right," he walked over to the open window he had entered from before climbing out and casting a last look at Tsunade, "We'll leave tomorrow. I'm sure he will be fit to travel by then."

* * *

Ino lay on a hospital bed with her gaze on the sleeping blond on the bed next to her. His right arm was in a cast while bandages covered most of his torso and head. By medical standards he hadn't been too bad, only experiencing a broken arm and chakra exhaustion. All he would need was rest and he would get better in no time.

"Is he awake yet?" said the other occupant of the room.

Ino turned to her teammate and shook her head. "No, not yet," she responded before taking in the look of her friend, "How are you feeling Choji?"

"I'm fine," Choji smiled as his thin hand reached for the bag of chips he had gotten not soon after waking up, "Now I have to gain back all that I lost."

Ino knew that Choji's clan had to gain weight in order to use most of their jutsu but still, a small part of her hated the fact that he could lose weight so effortlessly.

"Does anyone know what happened to Sasuke yet?" Choji asked through bites.

The kunoichi glanced at Naruto, her mouth forming into a frown, "They haven't told me anything yet. For now, only Naruto knows what happened." Now that she thought back, she had been too preoccupied looking after Naruto that she didn't even check to see if Sasuke was there.

"I see," Choji nodded absently as he replayed his fight with the Sound ninja on his head. That had been his toughest opponent yet and he had only managed to win by using his pills. If Jirobo had been that strong, he couldn't think of a way his teammates had bested the others,

"How are the others then?" he asked in concern.

"Well, before getting here Kiba was in a pretty bad condition…" she began, thinking back at the injuries the others had gone through, "Neji was just really tired while Gaara had his right arm cut really bad. I haven't heard from the others yet."

Choji went back to his chips though his expression had turned into one of concern. Gaara had seemed invincible at the Chunin Exams and Naruto had been the only one to beat him. The two were now badly hurt and he couldn't help but think that he was still too weak.

"Don't worry about it though," Ino assured with a confident smile, "I'm sure Tsunade-sensei took care of them already. They should be fine now. Besides, she's training me right now so I'll be able to heal you guys up if we're ever in a situation like that again."

"Well, I'll get even stronger so you don't have to heal anyone," a weak voiced chuckle from the bed next to the window.

Ino turned to her side to see Naruto's blue eyes staring back at her. "Naruto," she smiled, a wave of relief washing through her. He might not have been that hurt but seeing him so banged up still made her worry.

Naruto sat up slowly, ignoring the pain shooting through most of his upper body. All of the punches he took to the chest and stomach were making themselves known as he let out a short breath before noticing Choji's condition through wide eyes.

"W-what happened to you?"

Ino couldn't help but smile at the shocked look on her boyfriend's face. "It's nothing Naruto, he just had to use a clan jutsu," she explained.

Naruto looked at Choji with a raised brow before grinning, "Well… as long as you're okay, I guess."

"I'm already working on getting back to normal," Choji boasted as he kept on eating his chips with gusto.

"What about the others?" the Chunin asked after not seeing any of them around.

"We haven't heard from them yet," Ino explained, "What about you Naruto? Did you beat Sasuke?"

Naruto frowned as he replayed the last moments of their fight. "I did…" he began as he narrowed his eyes in thought. He could still remember the white mask the unknown shinobi had worn. Somehow he didn't think that Sound had been involved with the masked ninja since he remembered seeing him disappear through the trees leading to Konoha.

Ino looked at Naruto oddly after his long pause. He was deep in thought which meant that something else had happened.

"But he was taken away by someone when we were done fighting," Naruto finished before looking back at his friends, "Whoever the ninja was, I'm sure he had nothing to do with Sound."

* * *

Sasuke stirred from his sleep as his eyes opened to see a dark grey roof. His brows furrowed as he tried to sit up but stopped as a jolt of pain shot through his back. A groan escaped his lips as he tried to get in a position where his back wouldn't hurt that much.

"Dammit," he growled as he scanned the area around him. He was in a room with grey walls. Only his bed and a small table adorned the place with a small window next to the bed.

The wooden door of the room began to open as the Uchiha sat up in alert, ignoring the pain shooting through his back, before looking for any sort of weapon he could use.

"You're awake…" a masked ninja stated upon entering the room.

Sasuke watched him with a scowl on his face, "Where am I?"

"… Stay here," the masked ninja ordered before turning to leave.

"I asked you a question!" Sasuke glared with his fists clenching, "Where the hell am I?"

The masked ninja turned to Sasuke rather abruptly before walking up to him. The Uchiha growled but received a hard punch to the side of his face. His face snapped to the side with a bit of blood trailing down his mouth before the masked ninja took hold of his shirt and pulled him closer.

"You are in no position to make demands," the masked ninja said in an emotionless voice. He dropped his hold on the Uchiha before leaving the room.

Sasuke watched him leave while clutching his jaw. His eye darted around the room but found no way to leave other than the door. He let out another groan once his back began to hurt once more, making him squirm before resting against the bed once more.

He simply stared at the roof before hearing the sound of footsteps. Turning to the door, Sasuke didn't bother getting up, he didn't want to risk being attacked again.

One more masked ninja entered the room, this time a woman judging by her long hair. Sasuke watched her with a curious eye before she approached him and placed both hands above his body.

Green chakra emitted from the masked ninja's hands as she moved them around his body. She nodded to herself before taking a few steps back.

"… Stay here," was her simple command before leaving.

Sasuke frowned as soon as the door closed. Just where the hell was he?

* * *

Naruto watched the sun set on the horizon. The bandages on his head swayed with the wind as he leaned against the fence covering the hospital's rooftop. People walked along the streets while some nurses and doctors rushed in and out of the hospital.

"Why do you look so bummed kid?" he heard a voice ask from behind him.

"I'm just thinking…" he said without turning around. He shook his head before turning to his master, "What are you doing here Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya frowned, "Come on kid. Can't you at least act a little surprised?"

"You always appear out of nowhere when people are alone," Naruto explained with a blank look before shrugging, "I guess I got used to it."

"That was a bit colder than I thought…" Jiraiya muttered to himself before clearing his throat and throwing the blond a grin, "I came here to give you some good news."

Naruto raised a brow at that, "What kind of news?"

"I've been talking to the Third on how to go about your training for some time now," Jiraiya explained as he crossed his arms, "I decided that it would be for the better if you and I went on a little training trip. What do you say kid?"

"Sounds great," Naruto grinned, liking the idea of training. He needed to get stronger in order to protect his precious people. His latest mission had only shown him that there were still powerful people out there. He had slacked on his training the last few weeks but he wouldn't let it happen again.

"How long is this trip? A month or two?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya's eyes grew firm before he spoke, "Three years."

Naruto's eyes widened, looking at his teacher in shock. "What?" he couldn't help but ask, "I can't leave for three years."

"Why's that?"

"Because I can't just leave for three years just like that," he argued, "I've got people here that I can't leave alone."

Jiraiya frowned. "You're being selfish Naruto," he scolded in a firm tone, making the blond instantly calm down though his eyes still held defiance, "Do you think that you're helping those people by staying here? What will happen if the Akatsuki attack the village? Nobody would survive against them."

Naruto turned his gaze downwards. Jiraiya was right. He had vowed to protect them at all costs and going with him was his best bet at getting strong enough to face the Akatsuki. Sure, if he stayed on the village he could also get stronger but there was no guarantee that he would reach the level Jiraiya could give him.

"… When do we leave?" he muttered in defeat.

Jiraiya's eyes softened before he patted Naruto on the back, giving him a reassuring smile. "Trust me Naruto. I wouldn't make you leave if you didn't need to," he took a few steps back before speaking once more, ""We'll be leaving tomorrow. I'll be waiting in the village gate at noon."

"Alright…" Naruto nodded before Jiraiya disappeared in a whirl of leaves. He stayed there, watching the space his master had just occupied. He turned back to the village with a deep scowl on his face, "How am I going to tell Ino?"

**Ch. 49 End**

**That's it for this one guys. I know it's short but I had to stop it there or have the next chapter be really short. Next chapter will come out in a few days. **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this chapter, remember to leave any questions if you had any.**


	50. Farewell

**Damn it, I couldn't resist writing this now! **

**I'd like to thank all of those that stuck by this story all this time, it really means a lot. **

**Also the poll has been changed since one of the titles is already used by someone else, that was my bad. So, if you have time, look at the poll at my profile again and vote. I'll take it down in three days so vote for your favorite.**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

**Naruto: A New Path**

_**Sasuke Retrieval Arc**_

**Ch. 50 Farewell**

Tsunade and Shizune walked along the hallways of the hospital. The legendary medic held a clipboard on her hands, reading its contents with a pleased look on her face. Most of the retrieval team was doing better and some could be let out of the hospital the following day.

So far only Naruto, Ino, Neji, Shino and Gaara were well enough to be discharged the next day while Lee, Kiba and Choji would need to stay longer.

"Are you sure you should be here lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked out of concern. Tsunade had yet to take a break and looked as though she had seen better days.

Tsunade put the clipboard away before chuckling softly. "Don't worry Shizune," she waved her off, "I know my own limits and even though I haven't worked so hard in some time, I'll be fine."

Shizune nodded as the two of them walked into a hospital room. Inside sat Neji, Shino and Gaara, the latter standing near the window with a passive look on his face.

"I think that you'll be glad to know that you will be discharged tomorrow," she began while reading over the clipboard once more, "Just make sure to rest once you're out and absolutely no missions or training for a few days."

"Understood," Neji nodded before a serious expression etched on his face, "How is Lee doing?"

Tsunade crossed her arms before shaking her head, "He'll need to stay here for a couple more days. Even then, we're not sure if he'll wake up. The damage he took was very severe and it could take weeks for him to get better."

"I see…" Neji muttered with his usual calm look though his eyes held a bit of worry.

Gaara eyed the cast on his arm with a curious expression, never having worn one before. Before coming to the Leaf he had never been harmed but after meeting Naruto everything changed. Not only his ways but also the people he came to meet. It was as though trouble followed wherever Naruto went.

"I would like to know the condition of our other teammates, if I may," Shino asked in interest.

"Most of them are doing well," Tsunade began, "In fact, Naruto and Ino will be discharged tomorrow as well. Choji is not well enough to leave but he'll do so in a few days."

Gaara turned his attention to the window in the room, now having the information he wanted. It was getting dark and the small garden on the back of the hospital was empty save for a man gathering some tools. He then turned his attention to the sky, looking at the retreating clouds and thinking of his home. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company of, well, his friends, but he found himself missing the familiar desert he had grown up in.

And for the first time Gaara wondered if he was feeling homesick.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the bed of his small room with hundreds of thoughts racing through his head. Where was he? What did they want with him? Had Orochimaru taken him to his base?

He had seen the light of day fade away to the darkness of night and wondered how long he had been resting on the bed. The soreness on his jaw was almost gone while the pain on his back seemed to get stronger. Almost as a reminder of he and Naruto's battle. A fight in which he lost against the dead-last.

His fists clenched in anger before the door to his room was opened once again. Turning his head to the side, Sasuke was met by the sight of the masked ninja that had punched him earlier.

"… Our Lord is here now," the masked ninja informed. His mask and voice not showing the slightest emotion whatsoever. "Follow me…" he ordered but saw that the Uchiha had yet to move.

"I can't move," he tried to reason with a glare, "The pain on my back is too strong."

The masked ninja kept his gaze on Sasuke for what seemed like hours before he finally spoke. "… Very well," he approached the Uchiha, gently holding onto his shoulders before gripping them tightly and flinging him across the room.

Sasuke let out a cough as his back slammed against the wall before dropping on the ground. He grit his teeth in pain before the masked ninja walked to him once more. His hands shook before the ninja kicked him on the side, cracking some ribs on the process.

The masked ninja bent next to Sasuke before gripping his hair tightly and pulling him to his feet. "… Our Lord wishes to see you," the masked ninja repeated before moving towards the door, "It would be for the best if you followed me."

Sasuke ignored the pain shooting through his body and followed after the masked man, figuring that he would rather meet their 'Lord' rather than take another beating.

Once they walked outside of the room he was greeted by more grey walls, though this time they were part of a large hallway. He noticed that there were many doors along the hallway, all of them the same brown color.

The masked ninja began to move through the hallway, Sasuke quickly following after him with a slight limp. They kept on walking for what seemed like hours before they arrived to a large door protected by two other masked ninja.

"We have been summoned…" the masked ninja spoke.

The two other ninja pushed the door open, their masks glaring into Sasuke once the door was fully open.

"… Let us go," the masked ninja ordered before entering the room with Sasuke on tow.

It was a large room with many windows on the walls though they showed no view. A large desk stood in front of Sasuke, behind it a single chair where a man sat. His wrinkled face showing no emotion as he looked over the young Uchiha.

The masked ninja kneeled before his Lord, "I have brought the Uchiha, Lord Danzou."

Danzou nodded before motioning for the masked ninja to leave with a wave of his hand. The ninja left the room without a word, closing the large doors behind him, leaving Sasuke alone with the older man.

"I suppose you wish to know why you have been brought here," Danzou stated with his face giving nothing away. "You have been brought before me in order to determine your future," he explained, "As things stand. You can only bargain for it."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke glared, "What you just said made no sense. Tell me why I'm here."

Danzou's single eye narrowed before he snapped his fingers, two masked ninja instantly appearing next to Sasuke and holding his arms painfully. The Uchiha let out a growl of pain as his sharingan glared into the elder.

"You are still in Konoha," he informed in a cold voice. Sasuke's brows furrowed as he looked around the room, finding that it didn't look like anything on the village.

"You see young Uchiha," Danzou began. "You only have two choices and I'll lay them out for you," he stated, "You can either work under me, get stronger and rise through the ranks of my force. Or you could go back to Konoha where they'll lock you up for the rest of your life, at least."

Sasuke grit his teeth, the answer being obvious to him. "I'll join you," he declared while glaring at one of the masked ninja gripping his arm, "Just get them off of me."

Danzou nodded to the two masked ninja, both instantly releasing their grips and leaving in clouds of smoke. The elder smirked, having just gained a new tool.

"Then welcome to Root."

* * *

Day had come to Konoha once again. The streets were filled with villagers and ninja alike. Some simply to take in the peaceful sights while younger ninja rushed from place to place doing the odd jobs that came with D-ranked missions.

Naruto and Ino walked out of the hospital feeling refreshed and ready to go. Naruto still wore his cast while Ino had a few bandages wrapped around her ankle.

"I can't wait to go home and shower," Ino complained, looking over her clothes with a frown, "I hate smelling like hospital and on top of that, my parents couldn't come get me a change of clothes."

Naruto chuckled as he walked alongside his girlfriend. "I keep on telling you to keep an extra pair of clothes on a scroll," he reminded, earning a pout from Ino. He smiled before getting an idea, "Hey Ino let's go on a date."

Ino stopped on her tracks, looking at Naruto oddly, "But we just go out of the hospital."

"I know, we can do it later," he grinned as he held her right hand. "Let's just go celebrate for having gotten out of that mission in one piece," his smile, in Ino's eyes, was fake.

His eyes seemed to lose their spark, like something was bothering him. "Sure," she answered while looking at him in worry, "At what time should we go."

"Quickly," he immediately said before catching himself and smiling sheepishly. "I-I mean if you don't mind. I'll pick you up in about an hour."

"Alright," Ino nodded before the two came to a crossroads. She looked at him in concern before beginning to walk away.

"I'll see you later!"

Ino turned to Naruto, flashing him a smile, "I'll be waiting."

Naruto watched Ino's retreating figure, his eyes turning to the ground. He would tell her at the end of their date. There was still time before he had to leave with Jiraiya anyway which meant that he could tell her at his own pace. He just hoped that this date would be enough to hang on to for three years.

* * *

Two Akatsuki members walked through a mountainous path. Large valleys could be seen from where they walked near a mountain's edge.

One of the members had light blue hair with a paper rose on her hair. Alongside her was a man with orange hair and many piercings on his face. He carried a heavily armored man over his shoulder, his eyes closed and parts of his armor missing.

"We are still not done with preparations," the Akatsuki member with orange hair spoke. "We will extract this bijuu and then go into hiding until our preparations are completed."

"What of the man wearing the whirl mask?" the member with blue hair asked.

"He is not to be trusted," he responded. "We do not know of his motives and associating with him would only endanger our cause," the Akatsuki member explained, "Also, our comrade has met with him before. I take her word over his."

The blue haired Akatsuki member said nothing as the two continued to walk through the mountain. Han, the jinchuuriki of the Gobi had been captured but it seemed as though they got ahead of themselves.

The Akatsuki would wait for now. They were in no rush after all.

* * *

"I can't believe you ate all that ramen," Ino giggled before pointing a finger at Naruto, "But next time we'll go to a place that I choose. I don't mind eating ramen but it's my turn to choose the place of our date."

Naruto smiled as he and Ino sat on a nearby bench. They were currently on a park near the village's gate. Ino wore an orange shirt along with brown shorts since she knew the date wouldn't be anywhere formal due to it being last minute. She did wonder why Naruto was dressed on his usual ninja attire even sporting his headband.

"It's a deal," Naruto smiled as he turned to Ino with his expression turning serious. He drew in a breath before speaking, "I have something important to tell you."

Ino looked at him in slight concern. It was rare for him to be so serious outside of missions. She didn't know what she expected him to say but the next words that left his mouth caught her completely off-guard.

"I'm leaving the village."

"W-what?" she stammered with her eyes wide in shock.

Naruto caught wind of his words before flailing his arms in the air. "Not like that. I mean that I'll be leaving for training with Jiraiya-sensei," he quickly explained, not wanting to sound like he was about to desert them.

A wave of relief washed over Ino, now knowing that things weren't too serious, "When are you coming back?"

"I'll be leaving…" he began but couldn't finish. Looking into the eyes of Ino, watching him closely in curiosity, he couldn't bring himself to tell her. He clenched his fists before finally gaining the courage to talk, "I'll be leaving for three years."

Ino looked at Naruto as though he were crazy before a wave of desperation watched over her. "But why?" she asked louder than she intended, "Why for three years?"

"I don't really know why three years but Jiraiya-sensei has though it over for some time," he cast a look at the ground, not being able to meet Ino's eyes. "I have to do this Ino," he thought back at the last mission, how he had been unable to put a dent on Kimimaro, "If I'll go with Jiraiya-sensei I'll become strong enough to protect you."

"But you're already strong Naruto," she argued, "I'm already training with Tsunade-sensei. Soon, I won't need you to protect me anymore. There's no reason for you to go."

"There's some people after the Kyuubi," he explained, "I have to get stronger if I want to go up against them."

"Then get Jiraiya or Kakashi to help you with them," she offered in desperation.

Naruto shook his head. "It's not their fight Ino," he muttered with his gaze still on the ground, "The last thing I want to do is hurt you but this is really necessary. I want to be able to protect you from the Akatsuki. Jiraiya-sensei and Kakashi-sensei won't always be there to protect me."

A shaky breath escaped Ino's lips. "What's going to happen to us then?" she asked worriedly.

"I'll write you every time I can," he responded as he clenched his left fist slightly. "I promise that I'll always write to tell you how I'm doing," he assured before letting out a short breath, "This hurts me too but I have to go."

Ino looked at Naruto with tears threatening to fall. "Look at me Naruto," her voice overflowing with emotion. Naruto let out a sigh before meeting her eyes, "Is this really what you want?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered truthfully before taking her hand on his. "Those guys will be after me and I don't want anyone getting hurt because of it," he explained, "I want to be able to protect myself from them. If they did anything to you because of me. I don't know if I could take it."

"Fine," Ino responded with her gaze on the ground. She understood his intentions for leaving. Looking at his eyes she could see the inner turmoil he was going through. He was sacrificing himself in order to protect them and the least she could do was make a sacrifice herself. A sad smile formed on her face as she thought of this, "I know I can't stop you when you get like this."

"Ino I-"

He was cut off as Ino's lips found his. His eyes widened slightly before returning the kiss eagerly. Ino moaned into his mouth as their kiss deepened, Naruto's arm snaking around her waist and pulling her closer.

Naruto caressed Ino's tongue with his before she suddenly pulled away, leaving him a blushing stuttering mess, "W-what?"

Ino giggled. "That's something to remember me by," she explained with a mischievous glint on her eyes, "If you ever hide something from me again, you'll pay."

"S-sorry," he stammered, still feeling the effects of that kiss.

"It's okay," she interrupted before wrapping her arms around him and pressing her head against his chest, "Let's just stay like this for now."

Naruto obliged and pulled her closer. He closed his eyes as he took in the moment, knowing that he would miss her dearly.

* * *

Jiraiya stood near the gate of Konoha. His arms were crossed as he looked for any sign of his student. The boy was late, something he had been doing lately, it seemed that he was gaining a few traits from Kakashi and, as much as he liked to take it easy, he would have to get him to get rid of that single thing.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he finally saw his student approaching him with Ino walking right beside him. Both had a sad glint on their eyes as they came to a stop a few feet away from him.

"Are you ready kid?" Jiraiya asked, knowing how much it would hurt his student to leave. He himself had gone through something similar before but sacrifice is something a ninja should get used to as soon as possible.

Naruto hesitantly nodded before throwing a glance at Ino and then back at his master, "Can I just have a few minutes to say good-bye?"

"Alright then," Jiraiya agreed before beginning to walk away.

Naruto smiled sadly at Ino as she moved to stand in front of him, only a few inches separating them.

"Hey Ino, make sure to take grandma Tsunade's training seriously," he said in a teasing voice.

Ino looked at him with a fake frown, "What? You're the one leaving with a pervert. _You _take your training seriously and I don't want you picking up any of his habits."

They both chuckled before being interrupted by Jiraiya yelling from the gate, "Come on Naruto. We have to get going!"

Naruto nodded slowly before turning back to Ino, the kunoichi looking sadly at the ground with tears threatening to fall.

"Tell... everyone to take care," his voice was barely a whisper as he struggled to keep himself together.

Ino nodded with her gaze still on the ground, the first of tears beginning to roll down her face, "Y-yeah…"

They both stayed still before Naruto pulled her into a hug, closing his eyes and taking in her scent. Three years. He wouldn't get to see her for three years. "Hey Ino…" he whispered into her ear, trying to ignore the hollow pain shooting through his chest before muttering something into her ear.

Ino's eyes widened as she heard Naruto's last words. More tears rolled down her face before he pulled away, smiling sadly before giving a small wave and running to Jiraiya's side.

She watched as the two left. Three years. She wouldn't get to see him for three years. His last words to her replayed on her head as a small smile formed on her lips. He had never told her _that _and it left her with a bittersweet feeling.

Ino watched Naruto's retreating figure before responding to his last words to her.

"I love you too."

**The End**

**Wow I can't believe I'm finally done with this part of the story. It's been eleven months since I began my story but I can't really believe it's been so long. **

**The next part of the story will be called Naruto: Path to Hokage. Just to give you a heads up. It is on this part of the story that you will see the most changes since I want to keep everything fresh to you guys.**

**Anyway I should have the sequel posted in about a week since I'll be a bit busy. **

**Thanks to those that read the story and I hope you liked it. **


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